By now, this should be familiar territory for me. Having had my writing rejected before by other publishers, the latest rejection (five days ago) of my book manuscript no longer has the sting the previous ones did. In fact, it was actually liberating and affirming in ways I didn't expect. And to top it off, … Continue reading Resting From Book Writing (For Now)
Been a while since I wrote a blog post in this mini-series on my writing musings for 2024. Today, I've good reason to add one more to this series before the year ends. Because this morning, I invited not one but two local writers to share with my Writers Club on their journey to self-publication. … Continue reading My 2024 Musings on Writing #4 — Chatting With Self-Published Writers
For over a decade, one friend has been instrumental in helping me birth and develop my writing life. The funny thing is she doesn't even know what she did for me. And, even funnier, I didn't know it too! At least not until this week. Let's call this wonderful friend YC. Earlier this week, I … Continue reading My 2024 Musings on Writing #3 – It All Began With A Friend
I'm excited for today's post because I've been looking forward to writing it for a few months now! But I had to wait for an event scheduled this morning before I could finish writing it. You see, my writer's club scored its first major coup when a local author agreed to visit our monthly meeting … Continue reading My 2024 Musings on Writing #2 – Fireside Chat With Author Charmaine Leung
I have a confession to make. My mind's a mess! No, not the "I'm-about-to-have-a-nervous-manic-depressive-breakdown" kind of a mess (though now and then I do feel on the verge of losing my marbles when life overwhelms me). What I meant about my mind being a mess is that I'm constantly flitting from one thought to another. … Continue reading My 2024 Musings on Writing #1 — Digital Gardening
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
Two months ago, I launched this mini-series that talks about the dreaded writer's block. It was all about how simply starting any writing with one true sentence can unlock any writer's creative juices. I followed that up with a second piece last month about how, when stuck, writers need to go even deeper into their … Continue reading Curing Writer’s Block #3 — A Quote (or Four) To Inspire Writers
Recently, I found out about a podcast singing contest helmed by one of my favorite singer/songwriters to walk this planet, Sara Bareilles. At the same time, I found a related interview with her in Forbes about this contest (aptly called Breakthrough; unlike other singing contests, judges in this one listen to but don't see contestants … Continue reading Curing Writer’s Block #2 – Going Deeper Together
This week, I was reminded of what the great Ernest Hemingway once said, All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know. By this, Hemingway would effectively beat writer's block. Once he could write a single true sentence, Hemingway found himself able to write the next sentence. … Continue reading Curing Writer’s Block #1 — Start with one true sentence
Hey! You might remember exactly a month ago today, I posted about attending my first synchronous online memoir writing course, lasting eight weekly sessions. No? Well, please do check out that post. Then, what I'm sharing below will be more meaningful, when you return here to read it. You see, for this course that I'm … Continue reading “Clouds in my heart” — another memoir chapter excerpt
