Category Archives: creativity

The Shame I Feel

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Nancy

I’m stupid. I’m inadequate. I am a failure. This is what I grew up believing about myself, and there was no place that proved these points more often, more relentlessly, and more consistently than school. All day long, five days … Continue reading →

Posted in Book tour, Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, depression, economics, education, emotion, Energy, failure, fiction, History, Listening, Magic, Maintenance, marketing, Pain, Play, privacy, Process, Public appearances, Publishing, research, silence, Society, spaciousness, spirit, Starting a new work, Stillness, Story, Strength, success, survival, The market, the world, Uncategorized, Visibilty, what artists need | Tagged art and profits, character, creative life, life of a writer, literary world, priorities, process, productivity, promotion, public, research, sacred space; writing space; the writer's des, Starting a new work, storytelling, The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson, writing life | 6 Comments

Making Art in the Age of Trump

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Nancy

Writing takes spaciousness. It requires managing time and psychic space. It requires holding part of yourself away from things: reality, jobs, bills, money, even marriage and partnership and family. It requires keeping a large part of your heart and mind … Continue reading →

Posted in Book tour, comfort, Community; Genorosity, Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, depression, economics, emotion, Energy, failure, fiction, Grief, Listening, marketing, privacy, Process, Public appearances, Publishing, research, silence, Society, spaciousness, Starting a new work, Stillness, Story, Strength, survival, Uncategorized, Visibilty, what artists need | Tagged advice, character, creative life, fear, giving up, life of a writer, priorities, process, productivity, promotion, public, renewal, research, spaciousness, Starting a new work, working, writing life | 2 Comments

Soothing the Reader

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Nancy

There is something important to remember and that is that the reader wants you to succeed. The reader of a novel wants nothing more than to forget she is reading. She wants to fall into your fictional world so deeply … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, comfort, Completing a novel, creativity, critique, Decisions, Drafts, emotion, failure, fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged advice, character, details, priorities, process, reader's trance, storytelling | 2 Comments

Alchemy

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Nancy

Years ago, when I first started teaching, a woman signed up for my class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in the N.C. mountains because her doctor had told her that if she didn’t do something for herself soon, … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity, depression, emotion, Energy, Magic, Process, Prompts, Self-worth, soul, spirit, Story, survival, Telling our stories, Transformation, Uncategorized, Visibilty, voice, women | Tagged alchemy, magic, process, renewal, sacred space; writing space; the writer's des, storytelling, strength, transformation | Leave a comment

Walls, Doors and Windows

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Nancy

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 | 6 Comments

The Art of Listening

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Nancy

If you are a writer, you must listen. You must listen to your instincts. You must listen to the world. You must listen to the things that lack conventional voice. You must listen to the trees, the river, the deer, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, comfort, Consumerism, creativity, Day by day, education, Elitism, emotion, Energy, Exploration, fun with what we do, intuition, Magic, Philosophy, Play, privacy, silence, spaciousness, spirit, Uncategorized, Wildness | Tagged advice, character, life of a writer, listening, magic, not writing, physical world, spaciousness, unplugging, Voices, writing life | 4 Comments

Free Advice

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Nancy

When you’re a writer, you receive a lot of free advice. A good deal of it (most, I’d say) comes from people who do not write. I’ve been told I have to learn Latin (which I have nothing against, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Community; Genorosity, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, Elitism, Energy, fiction, happiness, Magic, Play, Process, spirit, success, survival, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized, Wildness | Tagged advice, character, creative life, fantasy, fear, giving up, life of a writer, process, Starting a new work | 4 Comments

Is Confidence Necessary?

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Nancy

I am at an age where I look back on my younger self with great tenderness. I wonder what happened so early in my childhood that my confidence was completely wiped out. There are of course institutions and people to … Continue reading →

Posted in comfort, Comparison, creativity, critique, emotion, failure, fantasy, privacy, Self-worth, silence, Society, survival, Telling our stories, Uncategorized, Visibilty, Wounds | Tagged creative life, dread, fantasy, fear, life of a writer, literary world, public, self esteem, self-worth, success, winners losers | Leave a comment

The Conversation

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Nancy

This is a conversation I have had quite often: “How do I get to do what you do?” I am asked. “What exactly do you mean?” How do I get a book published? How do I get paid to teach … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity, Day by day, Decisions, Elitism, History, Maintenance, Publishing, Self-worth, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized, Writing career | Tagged advice, art and profits, creative life, life of a writer, literary world, process, writing life | Leave a comment

Dear Sir

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Nancy

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 →