A while back I wrote a post called Saying No and Saying Yes, about how hard it is to turn down invitations, whether they’re social or professional. I turned another one down this past week. It made me think again about why it’s so hard. I wrote then: An invitation suggests that the sender values you [...]
Writing
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At the risk of resembling the spring bloom on the bottom right in the excellent botanical guide by Dylan Meconis pictured above, I want to talk a little about how yoga is helping my writing. I take yin yoga classes. Someone today called it naptime yoga, and it’s true that it’s almost entirely done seated or [...]
In the eleven (!) years since my first book was published, I’ve become more reticent about blogging about my work in progress. Deadlines shift. Publishing dates change. Difficult events erupt and occupy all mental bandwidth. I never want to be in the position of cheerily announcing that things are going super awesome with my fabulous new [...]
Things I am doing, an incomplete selection: Making oatmeal with a lot of stuff in it. Tips: toast the pecans before you chop them. Use frozen blueberries when fresh ones are out of season. Frozen banana works too, and is actually great with the toasted pecan. Do not stint on the cinnamon. Working on my [...]
No empty trips. A casual search suggests that this advice has its origins in the restaurant industry. Save time by consolidating. When you’re bringing the drinks for table two, if you’ve got room on the tray, get the calamari to table three. On your way back to the kitchen, grab the empty glasses from table four, [...]
I’m trying to figure out whether to write an as-yet-unformed narrative as prose or as the script for a graphic novel. Prose Pros: – Control. Being totally in charge of the world I’m creating. – Being free to write about things that are hard to draw without fear that I’ll eventually make an artist’s life [...]
Originally posted at the Wordstock blog. I have a Designated Writing Zone in my house. I’ve written many thousands of words in it, and I’ve even blogged about it. But sometimes I need other voices, other rooms. Fortunately Portland has many places where you can park yourself for extended periods of time to work on your [...]
I was trying to hunt down the date for an upcoming event I’d managed not to get into my calendar, and searched my email for the name of the person organizing it. The results went back to 2005 — my first year using Gmail. (Before that it was Pine, because I am exactly that old-school.) [...]
1. Confession Several times over the past few years, I’ve heard about writers — some of whom are my friends — going on extended writing retreats, being extremely productive, and generally feeling renewed, inspired, etc. I myself have been very lucky to be able to attend the annual BG Literary retreats. But as amazing as [...]
I’m indebted to the artist who put this up in my neighborhood. The gritted teeth, the grim expression — it’s like that, yeah. You want your writing to process, like with Pomp and Circumstance and fancy outfits. But sometimes what you get is more like processed, as in meat, and you’re trying to assemble ill-favored [...]
