Tag Archives: art and profits
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
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
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
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
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
The Market
People often ask me how to read the market. What should they do? What’s the next new trend? How did I know to write what I wrote when I wrote it? Look at me, I want to say. Do I … Continue reading
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
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
“Art, Independence and Spirit.”
Dear Lisa, When I was a child I spent a lot of time down in the woods and beside the lake we lived near, and the creek that fed into the lake. I was often alone, and I traveled with … Continue reading