Ursula K. Le Guin says, resoundingly, "Wrong!" The second chapter of her book on writing, Steering the Craft, is all about punctuation. (Check out my post about the first chapter here!) She writes, "...punctuation tells the reader how to hear your writing." It is a crucial tool, and not to be overlooked. My experience with… Continue reading Steering the Craft, Part 2: PUNCTUATION
We belong to an impatient culture. We don't wait for anything if we can help it, and if we have to wait, we tap our feet, sigh, and complain. Sitting and thinking that doesn't lead to immediate action is "wasting time" or "naval gazing" or "daydreaming." We have lost sight of the value in waiting.… Continue reading Novel Writing, Consumerism, and the Skill of Waiting
Recently, I taught haiku to a group of elementary students. I started the lesson on the defensive, expecting groans, complaints, poetry bashing, and a general unwillingness to participate. I tried to counter some of that up front by telling the students I loved haiku and that I expected them to be respectful of that. I… Continue reading Write Like a Child
Almost every writer successful enough to gain a platform to talk about such things prescribes setting a consistent writing time. So, desiring to be a successful writer yourself, and maybe even a good one, you set aside a block of time to write. You look forward to it. You have visions of filling up all… Continue reading Ways to Spend Your Writing Time That Aren’t Writing
There are two kinds of writers. Those who love writing first drafts, and those who love revising. I love writing first drafts. The first words of a new idea open a hidden door into a new world. Writing the first draft is exploring it, breathing foreign air, seeing new places unfold, and strange characters share… Continue reading my biggest (writing) weakness
One of Flannery O’Connor’s most popular statements goes, "I have to write to discover what I am doing. …I don’t know so well what I think until I see what I say." The more popular paraphrase is a little easier to parse. "I don’t know what I think until I read what I say." Novel writing… Continue reading the novel as multiverse
I've been practicing creative writing since I was a kid. Never studied it formally. My education was free at my local public library. After college, I thought, well, heck, I've read all these books. I'm going to write one. So I did. It was bad. I had no idea what I was doing. I could… Continue reading prequel: why write about writing
