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Category Archives: Maintenance
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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Relearning Stillness
For two months I have been on the move within a twelve mile radius. I was forced to leave my beloved studio (dubbed the treehouse) where I have worked and taught my classes for ten years. There was a lot … Continue reading
Posted in comfort, Day by day, emotion, Energy, fiction, Listening, Maintenance, Process, procrastination, silence, Starting Again, Stillness, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized
Tagged busyness, character, dread, fear, life of a writer, not writing, priorities, process, productivity, spaciousness, starting again, stillness, storytelling, Voices
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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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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
A Day Without Devices
On my walk this morning I found a nub of purple chalk a child had used to scribble on the pavement. I picked it up, an opportunity in my hand. What would I write? I thought hard about it, and … Continue reading
Posted in creativity, Day by day, Energy, fiction, fun with what we do, Gratitude, happiness, home, Journaling, Magic, Maintenance, privacy, Process, Self-worth, spaciousness, Story, Uncategorized, voice, what artists need
Tagged character, creative life, life of a writer, love, magic, not writing, physical world, priorities, process, productivity, renewal, spaciousness, Voices, working, writing life
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Spear Fishing
Dear Karen, Good lord, yes! The modern world is an anxious place. Every person I know swims in this sea, and as you say about art, art is anxiety in and of itself. I wish this were not so. Or … Continue reading
Posted in comfort, Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, Drafts, Energy, fiction, fun with what we do, happiness, Maintenance, Play, Process, Revision, Starting over, Story, Uncategorized
Tagged creative life, giving up, Jigsaw puzzle, life of a writer, Starting a new work, Starting over, working, writing life
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Guest – Heloise Jones
Dear Nancy and Karen – It’s raining in Santa Fe this morning. A gentle falling, welcomed in the desert. Different than the thunderstorms that turn dry arroyos into swift rivers littered with balls and trash cans and natural debris, or … Continue reading
Posted in creativity, Day by day, Energy, fiction, Gratitude, home, Maintenance, Motherhood, Process, spaciousness, Uncategorized, what artists need
Tagged character, creative life, life of a writer, love, magic, physical world, priorities, process, productivity, spaciousness, writing life
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The Inner Life of Story
Dear Karen – Your letter gave me much to chew on (no puppy-pun intended). How do we take care of the puppies and children and families we have, while also taking care of writing? In my work as a teacher … Continue reading
Posted in creativity, Day by day, Energy, fiction, home, Maintenance, Motherhood, Process, Story, Uncategorized
Tagged character, giving up, life of a writer, not writing, priorities, process, productivity, support, working, writing life
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Muddling
Dear Karen – I am thinking of Luisa’s letter to us. In particular that last paragraph about her grandfather making the stew that would feed the family. “I know how this is done,” she wrote. Lately Luisa has been posting … Continue reading
