It’s still sunny here in California. But the weather is getting cooler—most noticeably when the temperatures drop suddenly and rapidly after the sun sets. During the summer, I get up from my desk, away from my computer, and outdoors at least once a day, sometimes more. I go for walks—I moved here to Pismo Beach … Read More
NaNo Go or NaNo No?
National Novel Writing Month is starting in just a few days. I’m wondering, are you in this year? Or are you out? I used to dive into NaNoWriMo haphazardly—it was a given I’d participate. Now I consider more carefully whether NaNoWriMo will serve me. This year, to make my decision, I thought about things like … Read More
Sidetracked but Not Derailed
I have a passion for railroad trains. As a child, when I was tucked into bed at my grandparents’ house, I loved to listen to the distant choo choo of passing trains. As an adult, I enjoy living on the wrong side of the tracks, where I can hear the call of the trains’ whistles … Read More
Get Yourself a Muse
Image source: Hip-Hop Wired, Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty. Sometimes I get discouraged. Sometimes I think I can’t do it. Sometimes I feel like giving up. Confession: Within the past few months, I’ve considered whether I should give up on my writing dreams and just go about living my life. Call it imposter syndrome or fatigue—whatever it is, I … Read More
The Calm Before the War
Last week, I wrote about The War of Art, a book by Steven Pressfield, the author of The Legend of Bagger Vance. The book was recommended to me at just the right time in my life. I finished my MFA last year and came out of it tired, but promptly enrolled in two more year-long … Read More
Writing and Warring
I just finished reading Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (2012). At the risk of oversimplifying, the book’s advice boils down to this: Pressfield: “Do the work.” Writer: “But–“ Pressfield: “Do the work.” I enjoyed the foreword by Robert McKee immensely. McKee is an author, lecturer, and … Read More
5 Things I Learned About Writing from AC/DC
When I was 19, I was way into AC/DC. I wouldn’t date a guy who didn’t own Highway to Hell on vinyl or cassette. Not because I was a spoiled brat, although I suppose I was at 19. But because the album meant so much to me. If we didn’t connect on this most basic level, … Read More
Late Bloomer
I consider myself a professional writer now, but it took me a long time to get there. And it took me a long time to decide what being a “professional writer” meant or what it looked like to earn the right to call myself a writer at all. In another lifetime, I studied English Literature … Read More
Writing My Own Story
I’ve written stories and poems and essays since I first learned to write in first grade. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’ve written all your life, too. I wrote throughout elementary school and throughout my teens. I slowed a little but kept writing throughout my twenties. I wrote sporadically in my thirties and early … Read More
A Handful of Writers & Their Pastimes
Feature art and image courtesy of Christopher Wiley. Leo Tolstoy played chess. Madeleine L’Engle played the piano. Jane Austen played cards. Mark Twain was into scrapbooking and inventing–he combined these two hobbies to invent the scrapbook with adhesive pages. This week, I want to encourage you to get away from your desk and out of … Read More