Tag Archives: praise; accolades; worth; words and value

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

Holding Space for Yourself

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Nancy

In teaching, one of the things I try to do is hold space. In my private prompts classes, we close our eyes and take some deep breaths and get quiet, letting the workweek fall away, the effort that went into … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Community; Genorosity, Comparison, Competition, creativity, critique, Day by day, depression, emotion, Energy, Gratitude, Prompts, silence, Uncategorized, what artists need, Writing exercises | Tagged comparison, competition, creative life, hierarchy, love, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, process, promotion, sacred space, self-promotion | Leave a comment

Living in Fear

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Nancy

I have been living in fear. I am afraid of my public life. I am afraid of what it might mean to be known for what I do and recognized. I am afraid of what it might mean to not … Continue reading →

Posted in comfort, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, depression, emotion, Energy, fantasy, Gratitude, happiness, home, Passion, positivity; grace; light, posterity, privacy, Public appearances, Self-worth, success, Uncategorized | Tagged life of a writer, literary world, love, magic, physical world, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, priorities, process, promotion, public, renewal, self esteem, self-worth | 6 Comments

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Nancy

Nine times a month I teach classes devoted only to writing from prompts. The prompts can range anywhere from a line of poetry, to a picture, to an object, to writing a story that places an object within a picture, … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Community; Genorosity, creativity, Energy, Exploration, fun with what we do, Magic, Process, Prompts, Story, Telling our stories, The Muse, Uncategorized, Writing exercises | Tagged creative life, ideas, magic, portals, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, process, prompts, storytelling, writing exercises | 5 Comments

What are you working on now?

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Nancy

What are you working on now? There is no escaping this question once you are a published author, but the answer is complicated. For me anyway, which is one reason I don’t like to talk about works in progress. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Book tour, comfort, Comparison, Completing a novel, creativity, Day by day, Drafts, emotion, Energy, fiction, privacy, Process, Publishing, Self-worth, silence, Story, success, Uncategorized, what artists need | Tagged character, creative life, life of a writer, literary world, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, priorities, process, productivity, self esteem, self-worth, storytelling, success, Voices, working, writing life | Leave a comment

Thick Skin vs. Self Knowledge

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Nancy

I am often asked about the ethics of memoir. Specifically, is it ethical to write about another person? Can I be sued? Should I use real names? My answers are, respectively: Yes and no, maybe, and definitely not. There. Now … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Competition, creativity, critique, Drafts, editors, emotion, fiction, Revision, Self-worth, Uncategorized | Tagged character, creative life, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, process, productivity, public, self esteem, self-worth, support, working, writing life | 4 Comments

Gratitude for Karen McElmurray

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Nancy

Dear Karen, Here is what I have to thank you for: Embarking on this journey with me, a journey of over two years in which we have been writing letters back and forth on the writing life, and more. Bringing … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity, Decisions, Uncategorized | Tagged creative life, Karen McElmurray, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, spaciousness | 3 Comments

to mother

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Nancy

Dear Nancy: I’ve been on the road again, been teaching and driving, been talking and reading, and finally coming home and settling in to the quiet. This morning, during my sixty-thirty walk I thought about this letter to you … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity, Magic, Motherhood, Self-worth, women | Tagged creative life, Karen McElmurray, praise; accolades; worth; words and value | 2 Comments

Let evening come

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Nancy

Dear Sonja: I also have a garden that is a tangle, not of sweet peas, but of sunflowers and black eyed Susan’s and Echinacea spilling over a bank onto the patio. As I sat out there last evening sipping … Continue reading →

Posted in comfort, creativity, Day by day | Tagged creative life, dread, love, physical world, praise; accolades; worth; words and value | Leave a comment

Going There

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Nancy

Good Morning from the Ocean, Nancy: It’s Sunday morning, over the midway point here in my time by the sea. Last year, in this same house, I wrote you about days by the sea being like skins being shed, one … Continue reading →