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Category Archives: Decisions
The Shame I Feel
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
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Making Art in the Age of Trump
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
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Soothing the Reader
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
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Free Advice
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
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Letter to Self
Dear Nancy, What can I tell you that, deep inside, you already know? The world is a rough place. Find the beauty. It is what will save you. The fear you feel at the publication of a new book is … Continue reading
Posted in comfort, Community; Genorosity, Day by day, Decisions, depression, emotion, Energy, Gratitude, Grief, Journaling, Magic, Pain, positivity; grace; light, privacy, Publishing, silence, Society, soul, spaciousness, spirit, Strength, survival, the world, Uncategorized, Wildness, women, work
Tagged dread, fear, giving up, grief, magic, priorities, process, promotion, public, renewal, spaciousness, support, working
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The Conversation
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
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
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Wounded
It is hard not to lead with our wounds. We all have them. Some are personal. Some are from childhood. Many are cultural. Every day we step out into the world and the wounds are bumped and beaten and reinforced. … Continue reading
Posted in Day by day, Decisions, emotion, Pain, silence, Uncategorized, Wounds
Tagged creative life, dread, fear, renewal, support, writing life
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The Woo At Work
Writing a novel is messy. It’s a willful entrance into the unknown. It’s uncomfortable and weird and it feels wrong a lot of the time, especially in the beginning. And then one day you notice a gathering of clouds just … Continue reading
Posted in Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, Energy, Exploration, Magic, positivity; grace; light, Process, spaciousness, Starting a new work, Story, The Muse, The zone, Uncategorized, Woo-Woo, work
Tagged character, creative life, life of a writer, magic, process, research, spaciousness, support, The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson, writing life
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