Tag Archives: storytelling

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Soothing the Reader

There is something important to remember and that is that the reader wants you to succeed. The reader of a novel wants nothing more than to forget she is reading. She wants to fall into your fictional world so deeply … Continue reading

Posted in Advice, comfort, Completing a novel, creativity, critique, Decisions, Drafts, emotion, failure, fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Alchemy

Years ago, when I first started teaching, a woman signed up for my class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in the N.C. mountains because her doctor had told her that if she didn’t do something for herself soon, … Continue reading

Posted in creativity, depression, emotion, Energy, Magic, Process, Prompts, Self-worth, soul, spirit, Story, survival, Telling our stories, Transformation, Uncategorized, Visibilty, voice, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chasing Poetry

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 , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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

Writers and Editors

Editors work with energy. Writers also work with energy. But the energy is different. For a writer it’s deeper, it’s more personal, it’s intimate. This is not to say that what editors do is unimportant, only that writers have relationships … Continue reading

Posted in Completing a novel, editors, emotion, Energy, fiction, Philosophy, Process, Publishing, research, Revision, Story, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Figuring it Out

Besides writing novels, I also weave tapestries on a small lap loom and am learning to play the harp. I feel fortunate to have several different creative endeavors and I try to do a little of each every day. I’m … Continue reading

Posted in creativity, Day by day, emotion, Exploration, failure, Materials, Self-worth, Uncategorized, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted in creativity, Decisions, economics, emotion, Energy, failure, fiction, History, marketing, Passion, posterity, Process, Starting a new work, Starting over, success, The market, Uncategorized, Visibilty, what artists need | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment