Sometimes it's hard to know what to write about, what your "brand" is, or what topics and themes can hold your interest over time. What should you be writing? To figure that out, it helps to pay attention to the ideas and issues you're drawn to. I've suggested before that keeping "five fat files," whether physical or virtual, can be one way to collect information … [Read more...]
Every death is like the burning of a library – Alex Haley quote
Ask. Listen. Capture the stories. Every death is like the burning of a library. — Alex Haley Source: Pipher, Mary. Writing to Change the World. New York: Riverhead, 2006. Print. (p. 41) Browse the growing collection of Writing Quotes Image design by Isabelle Kroeker. ___________________________________ Is your writing life all it can … [Read more...]
Don’t Ever Lose Your Sense of Wonder
How's your sense of wonder these days? Do you stop and stare at the sunrise? Would you marvel at a squirrel's acrobatics? When's the last time you studied a crocus poking through winter's last snowfall? The past few weeks, I've been revisiting my first book, re-reading it closely as I prepare to release a revised edition. For the book, I interviewed a group of moms, … [Read more...]
Boorstin – I Write to Discover What I Think
Dani Shapiro, author of Still Writing, wrote "On Inquiry," a short blog post in which she said she finally figured out how to respond to the question she's asked over and over: "What are you working on?" She tried responding, "I'm writing a book-length lyric essay" and "...a work of creative non-fiction," but those answers sounded pretentious to her. She tried mumbling, … [Read more...]
Writing Quote: The Cure for Boredom is Curiosity
Curiosity not only pulls me out of the doldrums when I find myself bored, curiosity also helps me address lagging prose that threatens to bore the reader. Why is this dragging? What's slowing it down? How can I switch things up to keep the plot moving? Curiosity raises questions that guide me to solutions for a work-in-progress, and curiosity reveals stimulating new … [Read more...]
The Work of Writers: Witness and keep track – Thomas Lynch
At the 2012 Festival of Faith & Writing, poet and author Thomas Lynch spoke to a room full of aspiring writers eager to learn from him how to craft our own essays, poems, and books. He told stories of his work as an undertaker, how he stood with families during powerful moments of grief, loss, and final farewells. He spoke of how our culture needs to value and … [Read more...]
Writing Quote: Ursula Le Guin on training your mind’s ear to listen to your prose
If your mind's ear isn't trained to listen as you write—if you can't hear the rhythm unfolding with ease or pinpoint the phrases that trip up your tongue—I recommend you read aloud from quality literature as often as possible. Let the masters fill your head with memorable prose. You could analyze their techniques, or simply read line after line until you can feel what … [Read more...]
Writing Quotes: Ann Patchett on writing as miserable
Is writing a miserable, awful business? Ask the writer sitting in front of the blank screen, staring at the blinking cursor, struggling to begin his piece—his deadline two days away. Ask the writer who opened her email inbox to see a rejection from her dream publication. Ask the writer whose friends keep forwarding a scathing review of his recently released novel, … [Read more...]
Writing Quotes: E. B. White on how a poem adds music
I often encourage my clients who write prose to play with poetry, because they hear the rhythm of words and learn the compression of ideas. When they return to their essays and books, some of that poetic magic slips into their work. If you're interested in learning more about poetry but unsure where to start, I recommend you explore Tweetspeak Poetry. The team … [Read more...]
Christmas Greetings and a Writing Quote from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
I'm quietly dropping in to wish you a Merry Christmas, hoping you, too, find inspiration from the Christmas morning depicted in Little Women, when Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy received books under their pillows. I hope you pause at some point like they did to softly turn pages and feel winter sunshine creep in with a Christmas greeting. “[T]he rooms were very still while … [Read more...]
Writing Quotes: Ursula Le Guin on what interests prose writers
Though I dabble in fiction and play with poetry, I'm primarily a prose writer, and I can attest to this quote from Ursula Le Guin: I'm curious about life and concerned about commas...and semicolons (but don't tell Kurt Vonnegut). "Prose writers are interested mostly in life and commas." — Ursula Le Guin Source: This and many other memorable Ursula Le Guin … [Read more...]
Writing Quotes: Marie Curie, be more curious about ideas
We can write and blog and think and talk about people, but if we find ourselves curious about ideas, we'll have so much more to share. Madame Curie's quote reminds me of a similar one from Eleanor Roosevelt, who said (bonus quote!), "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." "Be less curious about people and more … [Read more...]
Writing Quotes: E. B. White on forgoing distractions
E. B. White knows how writers struggle with distractions, both great and small, as we seek to write, to create. My friend, I urge you to pin this, print this, tweet this...to remind you to live this. Forgo the distractions and go about the business of writing. "[C]reation is in part merely the business of forgoing the great and small distractions." — E. B. … [Read more...]
Writing Quotes: Joan Didion on writing to find out what is on my mind
Joan Didion understands the role of curiosity and inquiry in the life of a writer and how it leads to understanding and discovery—even discovering oneself. "I write entirely to find out what is on my mind, what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I’m seeing, and what it means." — Joan Didion Source: Trimble, John R. Writing with Style: Conversations on the … [Read more...]
Writing Quotes: Mary Karr on wading into memory’s waters
You might think twice about writing memoir after reading this sobering line from Mary Karr's book The Art of Memoir, but don't let it stop you. Even though she issues this warning, she also assures the reader that "all the scrupulous self-examinations" she's been privy to, on page or off, "always ended with acceptance and relief" (12). You'll survive wading into … [Read more...]