Writing
How to Write Without an Office
Does the lack of privacy keep you from writing? In a recent web class I learned more about the unique way I learn, write and study. I had to laugh but I’m in a stage of life where my natural needs in the way of office space (private, quiet, creatively decorated) aren’t an option. With five…
Rejoicing in Hope Every Day
I looked up at our black walnut tree and cringed. This winter we’ve been denuding it of all its green “finger thick” limbs, donating pounds and pounds of them to a good cause—a friend’s alternative cancer therapies. Evidently one of the natural approaches she is trying involves drinking a tea made from young black walnut…
Lumpy Writing
“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ Isaiah 45:9 NLT Her fingers quiver as she types the web address. One…
Getting Past the Excuses
A while ago, Gina encouraged us to stop making excuses, put aside the distractions, and just write. Sound advice. I’d like to expand on her topic, and offer a suggestion on one way folks might make this a reality. As Gina said, writing is HARD. If you’re writing a novel, it might seem next to…
No More Excuses! Just Write It!
After ACFW conference I thought I was ready to dig back into my WIP and pound out the words. But I wasn’t. Before sending off my proposal, my agent suggested I make a few changes, and so I dove into editing, again. Vacation hit right in the middle of editing and when I got back,…
Writing for God’s Glory vs. Writing for Publication
Like many writers in the early stages of their careers, I can be found spending some portion of most workdays soaking in advice and information from websites like this one. As I gather perspectives, dichotomies from which I’m sure you know well. The passion of art versus the realities of business. Writing what’s in your…
Balancing School with Writing
Writing fiction is, for most of us, rarely a full-time job; it’s a labor of love. And for most of us, finding the time to devote to our craft is a struggle between family and other responsibilities both inside and outside the home. It’s hard to create a balance between the life we love and…
Proof It
Raise your hand if you’d rather proofread someone else’s work than your own. Count my hand raised. When it comes to others’ work, grammatical mistakes leap out, waving their arms and begging for a red-pen rescue. For all the delicate etiquette of criticism, it’s easy and oddly satisfying to search out and correct someone else’s…
Back to School … and Work
FROM THE ARCHIVES Something absolutely amazing happened this week. My youngest child started preschool. For the first time in over eleven years of stay-home momhood, I have the house to myself. The dog and cats are outside. The TV is off, radio is off. I can hear the refrigerator running as I type. And that…
The Teacher Becomes The Student
It’s much easier to assign writing than to teach writing. That epiphany in my profession as a high school English teacher was a blessing and a curse. . .for me and for my students. It meant I stopped bombarding them with the alphabet soup of essays (analysis, biography, comparison, definition, exemplification, etc.), and started devoting…