By November 30th and the end of NaNoWriMo, some of us will have produced 50,000 words in a month with only 30 days and a major holiday thrown in for good measure. If you’re one of those delirious, exhausted writers reaching your goal, be proud! I won’t take any of that joy away from you. […]
Own the Emotion, Give It Away Some years ago, I volunteered as a studio monitor during a regional ballet association festival. I watched nervously as the teacher pushed and corrected the young dancers, but I was happy to see how he also encouraged and praised. Toward the end of the session, he told the dancers […]
Many years ago, when I was teaching English and creative writing to high school students, I attended a creative workshop for teachers “up East” where we learned fresh approaches to teaching writing. More importantly for me, it turned out, was the encouragement to write a story of my own. I remember sitting on a bench […]
We cannot live our lives constantly looking back, listening back, lest we be turned to pillars of longing and regret, but to live without listening at all is to live deaf to the fullness of the music. — Frederick Buechner, The Sacred Journey A friend encourages me to write memoir. “But I write fiction,” I tell […]
