Tag Archives: fear

Making Art in the Age of Trump

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Nancy

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 | 2 Comments

Relearning Stillness

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Nancy

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 | Leave a comment

Walls, Doors and Windows

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Nancy

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 | 6 Comments

Free Advice

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Nancy

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 | 4 Comments

Letter to Self

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Nancy

Dear Nancy, What can I tell you that, deep inside, you already know? The world is a rough place. Find the beauty. It is what will save you. The fear you feel at the publication of a new book is … Continue reading →

Posted in comfort, Community; Genorosity, Day by day, Decisions, depression, emotion, Energy, Gratitude, Grief, Journaling, Magic, Pain, positivity; grace; light, privacy, Publishing, silence, Society, soul, spaciousness, spirit, Strength, survival, the world, Uncategorized, Wildness, women, work | Tagged dread, fear, giving up, grief, magic, priorities, process, promotion, public, renewal, spaciousness, support, working | Leave a comment

Is Confidence Necessary?

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Nancy

I am at an age where I look back on my younger self with great tenderness. I wonder what happened so early in my childhood that my confidence was completely wiped out. There are of course institutions and people to … Continue reading →

Posted in comfort, Comparison, creativity, critique, emotion, failure, fantasy, privacy, Self-worth, silence, Society, survival, Telling our stories, Uncategorized, Visibilty, Wounds | Tagged creative life, dread, fantasy, fear, life of a writer, literary world, public, self esteem, self-worth, success, winners losers | Leave a comment

Chasing Poetry

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Nancy

Every day the poems slip away, as indifferent as cats. They slink behind trees and clouds. The burble beneath the swamp. I glimpse them floating downstream as I am walking up. But they are not just in the woods. They … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity, Elitism, Energy, intuition, Play, Poetry, Prompts, soul, spirit, Story, The Muse, Uncategorized, Wildness | Tagged creative life, fear, life of a writer, literary world, not writing, process, storytelling, writing life | 3 Comments

Taking it Off

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Nancy

Sometimes. Sometimes I want to take it all off, give it all back. The skin, the hair, the eyes, the fingernails. I want to return it. The bones, the liver, the lungs, the vagina, the clitoris. Has it really been … Continue reading →

Posted in Grief, home, Prompts, soul, spirit, survival, the world, Uncategorized | Tagged dread, fear, grief, life, physical world, renewal, sensuality, souls, spirituality | 2 Comments

Wounded

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Nancy

It is hard not to lead with our wounds. We all have them. Some are personal. Some are from childhood. Many are cultural. Every day we step out into the world and the wounds are bumped and beaten and reinforced. … Continue reading →

Posted in Day by day, Decisions, emotion, Pain, silence, Uncategorized, Wounds | Tagged creative life, dread, fear, renewal, support, writing life | 10 Comments

On Writing and Balance

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Nancy

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 →