“You only fail if you stop writing.” My mentor’s gentle eyes bore into my soul. He knew that I’d written every day for six days, just as I’d planned, and on the second 15 days I’d rested. “You only fail if you stop writing,” he said. “I know, I know. You’re right. I failed,” IContinue reading “When the drought broke”
Category Archives: Writing
Why books get written
“I want to write a book.” “I want to leave a mark.” And the people who get serious about the idea write the book, and they leave a mark. These pages are the mark. They say for now and ever, “This is who I was and what I had to say. This is what IContinue reading “Why books get written”
That exhilarating moment when you quit stalling
I did not make a new year’s resolution to publish two books the first weekend in 2021. But I recommend the experience to anyone who has been sitting on the cusp of doing something. And that’s where I was: I had dozens of blog posts collected for a book of optimistic celebrations, a deliberate counterContinue reading “That exhilarating moment when you quit stalling”
Another New Year’s Top Ten list
I have adapted a New Year’s habit from my friend Wally Conger, who would list a “Top 10” for the year just finished from his brushes with pop culture and life in general. Here’s my list for an infamous year. A couple of days ago I wrote about how the Arts have taken a hitContinue reading “Another New Year’s Top Ten list”
You say you want a resolution
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an exercise that comes around every November, where participants pledge to themselves and each other that they will aim to write a novel of 50,000 words or more in 30 days. It works out to 1,666 words per day, which does not sound daunting until it looms like aContinue reading “You say you want a resolution”
Just write anything until you write something
There are a number of things you can do with a blank piece of paper, or a blank screen. You can stare at it. You can write on it. You can draw on it. (You can also make paper airplanes and origami, but for purposes of this post, we’ll stick with things that involve writingContinue reading “Just write anything until you write something”
W.B.’s Book Report: Tommy James’ autobiography
The magic just grabs some people. My cousin’s dear one shared his copy of a book by Tommy James called Me, the Mob and the Music, and I raced through the first half last night. It’s quite a tale. It’s the story of a kid who was gripped by the magic early in life andContinue reading “W.B.’s Book Report: Tommy James’ autobiography”