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Category Archives: Comparison
Walls, Doors and Windows
I am thinking about walls, doors and windows, and the rooms that many writers feel they are kept out of. The feeling is real. I have a lot of experience with walls, doors and windows. Besides the fact that I … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, class, Community; Genorosity, Comparison, Competition, creativity, economics, Elitism, emotion, Energy, failure, Gratitude, happiness, Magic, Maintenance, privacy, Process, Public appearances, research, Self-worth, silence, soul, spaciousness, spirit, success, survival, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized, Visibilty, work, Writing career
Tagged accolades, art and profits, character, fear, giving up, life of a writer, magic, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, priorities, promotion, public, renewal, self esteem, self-worth, spaciousness, working, writing life
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Dear Sir
Dear Sir, I love you, and now you are gone, and I didn’t tell you I love you before you disappeared. That’s because when you were here, I did not love you. In fact, you were always annoying to me, … Continue reading
Posted in Community; Genorosity, Comparison, creativity, Day by day, economics, Gratitude, Grief, positivity; grace; light, Uncategorized
Tagged character, death of stranger, grief, letter, stranger
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Resisting the Bullshit
When they say upgrade, go outside and chop some wood. When they say new and improved, tell them you like the old ways better. When they say get fit and fabulous, tell them you’re misfit and fabulous. When they say … Continue reading
Posted in Comparison, Competition, Consumerism, Decisions, economics, failure, Society, the world, Uncategorized, Wildness
Tagged advice, art and profits, creative life, priorities, public, self-worth
2 Comments
Defining Self
Because I had difficulty absorbing the information given in school, and because I failed tests, I believed that I was stupid. Because I believed that I was stupid, I believed that I was inferior. Because I believed I was inferior, … Continue reading
Posted in Community; Genorosity, Comparison, Competition, creativity, economics, education, Elitism, emotion, Energy, failure, fiction, Gratitude, home, intuition, Philosophy, research, Self-worth, success, survival, The market, Uncategorized
Tagged advice, education, intuition, life of a writer, literary world, research, self esteem, self-worth, success, survival
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On Writing and Balance
This is from a talk I gave at the Franklin County Arts Council Writers’ Guild Spring Retreat on balancing a creative life with a work life. The problem is never time. It’s urgency. How much urgency do you feel? How … Continue reading
Posted in comfort, Comparison, Competition, Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, depression, emotion, Energy, fiction, fun with what we do, Grief, Process, silence, spaciousness, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized, Writing career
Tagged advice, character, creative life, fear, giving up, life of a writer, not writing, process, productivity, spaciousness, storytelling, writing life
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The Path
I am often asked how I got to where I am now. I honestly don’t know how to answer this question. I didn’t take a conventional route. I didn’t go to college. I didn’t enter an MFA program. I’m not … Continue reading
Posted in class, comfort, Comparison, creativity, Day by day, economics, failure, fiction, Process, Uncategorized
Tagged art and profits, creative life, day job, physical world, priorities, process, work
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Holding Space for Yourself
In teaching, one of the things I try to do is hold space. In my private prompts classes, we close our eyes and take some deep breaths and get quiet, letting the workweek fall away, the effort that went into … Continue reading
Posted in class, Community; Genorosity, Comparison, Competition, creativity, critique, Day by day, depression, emotion, Energy, Gratitude, Prompts, silence, Uncategorized, what artists need, Writing exercises
Tagged comparison, competition, creative life, hierarchy, love, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, process, promotion, sacred space, self-promotion
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On Becoming a Writer
Once I’d made my mind up to it, becoming a writer was fairly simple. I committed myself to it. I studied it. I read a lot of books. I attended a lot of readings. I attended as many workshops as … Continue reading
Posted in comfort, Comparison, Competition, Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, editors, emotion, failure, fiction, marketing, Play, privacy, Publishing, Self-worth, Starting a new work, Starting over, success, The market, Uncategorized, what artists need, Writing career
Tagged art and profits, creative life, dread, giving up, life of a writer, literary world, not writing, process, productivity, promotion, public, self esteem, success
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Money, Spaciousness, Deadlines and Bathtubs
For a long time before I had a writing life, I dreamed of one. I dreamed of living by the ocean in a little cottage, taking long walks, reading, eating good food, relaxing, breathing deeply. Or else I dreamed of … Continue reading
Posted in comfort, Comparison, Completing a novel, Day by day, Decisions, depression, Drafts, economics, Exploration, fiction, fun with what we do, procrastination, Publishing, silence, spaciousness, Starting a new work, Uncategorized
Tagged advice, character, creative life, life of a writer, literary world, not writing, priorities, process, productivity, renewal, spaciousness, working, writing life
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