In less than two months I am retiring. All at once I will have an extra thirty-two hours every week to do whatever I want. One of my goals (dreams) is to write more and produce more pages. But will it work out that way? I am hopeful, but also aware of the potential pitfalls…
Category: General Interest
Magic
Last spring I finished what seemed like the “book from hell”. Every chapter felt dredged from the depths of my creative soul. Like getting water from a well running dry, I could only scoop up a bare teaspoonful of story at a time. It got worse when two thirds of the way through I realized…
Advice From Editors and Agents—Revisited
If this were a typical year, I would be attending Colorado Gold conference this month. Besides a few workshops and the social activities, I would make sure to attend the editor and agent roundtables, where “the experts” answer questions and give advice to aspiring writers. Over the years, the questions asked at these programs were…
Travel Journaling
There’s something about traveling that sharpens my writing perspective. In a new place, my thoughts feel unbound, sniffing out every possibility like a dog that’s slipped its collar. In these moments I find unexpected clarity about nearly every aspect of my life, from careers to relationships to plot lines, and from realizations ranging from the…
Writing As Therapy?
Before the pandemic, a good friend of mine wrote in public places, environments where there were people around and quiet background noise. That was his routine for over twenty years. With those places no longer open, along with all the other stressors of the pandemic, he stopped writing. Now he is struggling with anxiety and…