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Category Archives: Process
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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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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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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Obsession
My life, my mood, my days, my sleep – everything goes better when I have an obsession. Not the unhealthy kind. Not the does-he-love-me-why-doesn’t-he-call kind of obsession. Not the I-need-a-new-pocketbook-and-complete-wardrobe-overhaul kind of obsession. Not the I- need-to-pull-my-life-up-by-the-roots-and-start-all-over kind of obsession. … Continue reading
Posted in Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, depression, Drafts, Energy, Exploration, failure, fiction, fun with what we do, Grief, Magic, Passion, Play, Process, Prompts, research, Starting a new work, Uncategorized, work
Tagged character, creative life, grief, holy pact, life of a writer, not writing, research, storytelling
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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 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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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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