Dear reader This will be my last essay post for 2023 as I take my annual year-end break from long-form writing. (I will however still attempt a weekly poem when I can cos, what can I say? Poetry's my jam!) As a fitting adieu to a busy writing year, I will share about three writers … Continue reading Three Published Writers Who Helped My Writing
For the longest time, I've blogged about how paying attention to the small things in life is what truly matters. Especially when it comes to novelists and memoirists. In fact, pretty much all kinds of writers. Now I've learned there's actually a term I can use to refer to these small things. It's called "attention … Continue reading Writers need “attention collectibles” to write well #1/4 — Intro
Four years ago, I completed an online memoir writing course where my coach urged us to drop writing prompts and exercises like morning pages. Instead, we should focus on intentional (purposeful) writing each time we put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. At about the same time, I learned what morning pages were (random, … Continue reading One writer’s return to writing morning pages
Last week, I wrote shamefacedly about C S Lewis, a writing hero of mine. Even though I never read any of his works all the way through. As shocking and embarrassing as that post was -- calling a writer my hero when I've never read his works cover to cover -- it can't beat today's … Continue reading My “Writing Heroes” #6/6 – Those I’ve Never Read (Part 2)!
In my final piece on this mini-series about podcasts, I really hope I've saved the best for last! For those new here, please feel free to visit my previous write-ups on this series. But if you haven't the time, it's okay too. Because this is the one that really speaks to how and why I … Continue reading Podcasts that inspire me to write #4/4
Three weeks ago I started this podcast mini-series by introducing two categories of podcasts that inspire me to write. I then followed it up with another entry a week later about categories three and four. Today I'm going to share another category of inspiring podcasts. But before I do, I have to explain what motivates … Continue reading Podcasts that inspire me to write #3/4
In a previous post, I talked about the joys of learning through listening to audio books and podcasts. And how it's a match made in heaven when you combine them with conventional reading. Of course, the joy is ultimately in the learning, no matter the medium of input. For it's in the learning that one's … Continue reading Podcasts that inspire me to write #1/4
When I think about a recent line I read, I can't help but pump a fist in the air and say a definitive YES! In the novel “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” (which was made into a film I recently reviewed), co-authors Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows had one of their … Continue reading How “flit-reading” among books inspired me to write
Woody Allen once said that "80% of success in life is showing up!" I believe he's right. This is why I'm showing up at my usual writing space now, sitting and waiting for inspiration to come-a-calling. So I can blog my next masterpiece. Right. The truth is, since taking a break from blogging in the … Continue reading Is “showing up” all it takes to be a writer? Not quite.
Publication. The mecca of any newbie writer's wildest dream. (Second only to being a New York Times bestseller) But THIS newbie writer, still wet behind the ears? Yikes! Look, I'll be honest. To harbor thoughts of publishing? It's THE scariest thing I can think of right now. In many ways, I'm even putting the proverbial … Continue reading Writing towards the world of publication with…hope?
