Zhangjiakou Shi Xuanhua Qu A promise from On Writer’s Block by Victoria Nelson, made in the context of giving oneself permission not to create, to take a planned break from writing: “The rewards of such deliberate procrastination, of complete and trusting surrender to the needs of that other side of the self, have been summed up by Eugene Delacroix: […]

Now that I know my book will be published—a two-book deal is on the table—what my writing teacher promised (see my 1019/07 post) has come true…I’ve started writing again and it’s good. I’m well into the second novel, the one I couldn’t write for almost two years. Told a friend yesterday that as long as […]

This morning in my writing group I heard a chapter read aloud from a novel-in-progress. I’ve heard the chapter at least twice before, maybe 3-4 times in all, and am familiar enough with it that I noticed whole new sections. In earlier iterations, the entire chapter was 23-25 pages, and the group had advised the […]

From my office window I’m watching winter come in. The onset of daylight savings time has widened the dark hours in my day (I’m a late riser, so I don’t get the benefit of more morning daylight, and dusk creeps in an hour earlier). My window now stays uncovered most of the day so that […]

Hmmm…I guess it’s okay to create another post on my own post. And since there are no comments, I reckon I’m writing into a black hole rather than from one. The comments and post have loosened the writing muscles, and I want to keep exercising them. So I’ll just have at it…if anyone comments, that’s […]