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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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

Posted in creativity, Day by day, Decisions, Elitism, History, Maintenance, Publishing, Self-worth, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized, Writing career | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

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 , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Caretaking

Dear Karen, Your letter about layers has made me think of the layers of my own history, manifest in certain pains that I am grappling with now. These layers, layers I thought long ago put to rest with therapy and … Continue reading

Posted in comfort, Day by day, depression, fiction, Maintenance, Motherhood, Process, Story, Telling our stories, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in comfort, Completing a novel, Day by day, home, Maintenance, Passion, procrastination, Uncategorized, what artists need | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment