Category Archives: Writing career

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

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

On Becoming a Writer

Once I’d made my mind up to it, becoming a writer was fairly simple. I committed myself to it. I studied it. I read a lot of books. I attended a lot of readings. I attended as many workshops as … Continue reading

Posted in comfort, Comparison, Competition, Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, editors, emotion, failure, fiction, marketing, Play, privacy, Publishing, Self-worth, Starting a new work, Starting over, success, The market, Uncategorized, what artists need, Writing career | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Work

I think there are three ways of earning money in this world. One is to rent out your body (labor), another is to rent out the space between your ears (desk jobs mostly), and the third is to have money … Continue reading

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The Value of Play

Dear Nancy Your pre-writing walks along the river sound glorious, and so does your description of your childhood “moodling” time in the woods.  As a child, I also walked in the woods.  It was a great solace to me, and … Continue reading

Posted in Competition, Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, fantasy, fiction, fun with what we do, Gratitude, happiness, Journaling, marketing, Play, posterity, Process, Self-worth, The Writer's Life, violence, Visibilty, Writing career | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Materials

Dear Karen, A few years ago during a time in which I was feeling badly about my writing, and wondering if I wanted to continue, I watched a PBS show about a group of people saving some wetlands in Florida. … Continue reading

Posted in creativity, Day by day, fun with what we do, home, Materials, Story, The Muse, The zone, Uncategorized, Writing career | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Harder Than You Think is a Beautiful Thing”

Dear Karen, I love your last letter. I love the idea of an “oversoul,” a term I have never heard before, and I agree wholeheartedly that we must be grateful for our own creative work and the creative work of … Continue reading

Posted in Community; Genorosity, Comparison, Competition, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, Energy, fun with what we do, Gratitude, Magic, Process, Publishing, Self-worth, spaciousness, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized, Writing career | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Amazon and Hatchette

Dear Karen – I feel raw and tender, like I will burst at one more piece of sad news. Upheaval. Wars. Bombs. Animals and people being tortured and hurt. Children killed. Mass murder. Rape. Suicide. Trees being cut down and … Continue reading

Posted in creativity, depression, economics, Gratitude, Grief, positivity; grace; light, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing career | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I have to believe there is a writing life….

Dear Nancy: This last week or so I have been moving back home after my semester away.  My days have been filled with a heap of teaching work still to do, dental checkups, pap smears, breast exams, clogged ears, and … Continue reading

Posted in comfort, creativity, economics, Gratitude, Self-worth, Telling our stories, The Writer's Life, what artists need, Writing career | Tagged | 5 Comments