Last night as I was falling asleep, I felt a strong desire to work on, not in, my office. I pictured myself vacuuming, dusting, emptying and rearranging shelves, then finally re-curating the photos on the walls and the collection of objets I have displayed over […]
We are all so busy these days. I know many people who rush from appointment to appointment, engagement to engagement, without, it seems, a clear sense of just what their priorities are, or what they would most like to be doing. I’m sometimes tempted to […]
A client and I were discussing John McPhee’s essay “The Search for Marvin Gardens.” With its richness of form, multiple themes and sources of tension, I thought the essay would make good material for a rich conversation. And it did. My client recently underwent […]
I’ve just come through a few days of bad writing. Or perhaps it would be better if I said a few bad days of writing. While both are true, approaching the territory of judgment is never a good idea for us writers. We all have […]
This week, I offer you a guest post I wrote for the blog “livewritethrive,” which has generated much appreciation. Think Small to Avoid Writer’s Block
Most of us have the wrong idea about inspiration. Popular culture tells us that inspiration is a force that strikes out of the blue, often when we least expect it, energizing us to write, paint, think, make a plan, a decision–even a phone call. And […]
Book Promotion Part II Promoting my book feels a lot like dating, something I was never all that enthusiastic about. In truth, my knowledge of dating comes mostly from friends and clients. And these days, it often involves the Internet. However, whether you meet potential […]
Since I am spending a great deal of my time these days working toward promoting my new book, I thought I should tell other writers about my successes and failures. Promotion seems to be a topic that gets a great deal of attention, from writers […]
Many of the writers I work with aren’t aware of just how much the environment in which they write affects their facing the blank page. I learned this lesson accidently, when we needed my study for my step-daughter’s bedroom, and Stephen created a studio for […]
While limiting their writing time to 15 minutes helps many writers face the blank page, it doesn’t work for others. Even if they give themselves permission to write for only five minutes, some writers cannot sit down and begin. Something else—a phone call, a chore, […]