The principle is simple: potential energy turns to kinetic energy. Momentum is a force of movement, of energy, but most importantly, of consistency. Don’t panic. I’m not going to throw physics equations at you. Couldn’t even if I wanted to. I don’t have the greatest scientific mind, but I do know a little about writing. […]
The Momentum of Writing Read More »
“It is […] true that creation comes from an overflow, so you have to learn to intake, to imbibe, to receive, to nourish yourself, and not be afraid of fullness. The fullness is like a tidal wave which then carries you, sweeps you into experience and into writing.” Excerpted from a letter that Anais Nin
On Being Confident and Prolific Read More »
I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard with my half-sister, Judy. She’s 81, decades older than me, my father having married the first time just out of his teens, and the last time, to my mother, when he was pushing fifty. Judy led me to the window of a lighting store, and pointed to a dusty
A Good Story Affects You, Whether You Like it Or Not Read More »
She speaks the simple line while recounting the layers she’s had to heal while writing her first book to arrive where she is now, ready to embark on writing her second book. On the other end of the line while attempting to hold steady the vessel for her brilliant insights and wild creativity, I had
8 Qualities of The Codependent Writer Read More »
When I was in 5th grade, my mom spent hours working on a middle-grade novel. These were the days before word processing, so she used an old Smith Corona electric typewriter. It became a fixture on the dining room table. Eager to follow in her footsteps, I conceived my own novel. I bought a spiral-bound
In Writing, It’s More About What You Don’t Say Read More »
“If we knew you were going to be a writer, we’d have been better parents.” Parents say this to a young woman in a comic strip punch line. In creative nonfiction, just like in life, the best advice is don’t hold back. Sit at the keyboard and let it all go, the hate, rage, self
The “Mom” Problem in Creative Nonfiction Read More »
I don’t believe in writer’s block, per se, but I do believe we can sometimes create blocks around creative goals. Perhaps we were discouraged as a child by a well-meaning parent or teacher. Perhaps, like me, you were told to quit daydreaming, or told that writing — or painting or dancing or acting — was
Overcoming Creative Blocks Read More »
Lifetimes ago, I flirted with the idea of getting a master’s in social work. But I knew in my heart I was insanely bored by those “established” models and theories in thick, hardbound books: flow charts designed to explain away human behavior. I like observing oddballs, not trying to fix them. So, nah. I then
My $40,000 Wedding Read More »
Can books tell you about the people who read them? Several years ago I decided to write a book about my mother. The book would be a book about the books she read, or the books I imagined her to have read, because I didn’t actually know or remember what she’d read. I knew the
This wasn’t therapy, damn it, and I’m no therapist. It was a creative nonfiction class and these students were paying good money to gut their lives, plunk the prime pieces on the operating table and, by the end, Frankenstein the remains into a narrative that made some bloody sense. Tall order, sure, but they didn’t
Writing is Not Therapy Read More »
