The days when the words come easily are gifts. They are the moments when the writer is free from whatever distracts her. They are the times when the words pour forth – not necessarily good or perfect words but words that can be shaped and turned into something worthwhile. They are words with potential. Such days are rare. They are to be received with gratitude and purpose. If such days are rare, the writer should take advantage of them. She shouldn’t rest in the feeling of clarity; she should act upon it. She should write and write and write until her hands can do no more.
Writing Life
Keeping a Journal in the Twenty-First Century
Today’s post is by Evelyn Lauer. Evelyn and I were classmates in graduate school. She also helmed the online journal Front Porch. She is a gifted poet, a talented editor, and a wife and mother.
Journals are in again.
Wreck This Journals are especially well-known. If you’re on Instagram, check the #journal feed and you’ll see what I mean: Hundreds of pictures of Wreck This Journals are posted by teens and preteens.
[Read more…] about Keeping a Journal in the Twenty-First Century
Writing is Like Driving a Standard
To drive a standard is to be in tune with one’s automobile. It’s to recognize when it’s time to shift, up or down. It’s to know when to put the vehicle in neutral or when to stay in motion, fluctuating between the brake and gas pedals.
Revisited: Why I Write
I am a worrier. I worry about real things, such as bills and projects and deadlines and health. I worry whether I come across as self-centered or self-pitying. I worry that I am those things. I worry about how not to be those things. I worry a lot.
Of Writers and Coffeeshops: The Sequel
When I first published “Of Writers and Coffeeshops” in 2011, I was amazed by the response. Several readers commented and shared whether they could or couldn’t work in coffeeshops. Unfortunately, those comments have been lost. They didn’t survive the move from one site to another. I’m not sure it matters too much; the readers and I were defeated by one Amber Avines. Her first job after graduating college was as a television reporter. She can write anywhere and under any circumstance. A lack of caffeine or a crowded coffeeshop won’t and doesn’t faze her.
Of Writers and Coffee Shops
I’ve always struggled to write while sitting in a coffee shop. I’ve tried, but I rarely write anything of quality while in one. I’m distracted by the conversations I overhear. I find myself watching how people interact with each other or developing a curiosity about the work they’re doing.