Writer’s Mental Health
Wisdom for a Hunger Moon
Here in North America, Indigenous people tell us the name for the full moon in February is the Snow Moon, or the Hunger moon. Yesterday we had what New Jersey folk call a snow storm, and while it was a bit blustery, for this Canadian, 4 inches of snow is hardly a storm. Still, it…
Read MoreHomecoming
This morning I woke up and, after taking the dog out to do his business before the rain started, made up my bed, smoothing the linen cover, plumping the pillows, setting the lavender sachet among the pillows just so. Then I went downstairs and made coffee, and while the water boiled I looked out the…
Read MoreA Subtle But Important Distinction
A man I respect immensely — kind, caring, smart, funny and filled with the sort of humility that’s truly inspiring — told me a story yesterday that I want to share with you. It’s not really his story any more than it’s mine, but it is the sort of story that holds such wonderful wisdom…
Read MoreThe Life That Is Waiting For Us (might just be here)
E.M. Forster wrote, “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Change is inevitable, and the wisest words in all the world are these, this, too, shall pass. For better for for worse, nothing lasts. We live in a…
Read MoreWriters' Blog Tour – How Does My Writing Process Work? Question #4
I explained in an earlier post what the Writers’ Blog Tour is about. Basically, writers answer the same four questions: Why do I write what I do? What am I working on? How does my work differ from other work in its genre? How does my writing process work? You can click on the links to see…
Read MoreSo Ends The Silence
A month ago I posted that I was going to be off social media for a month, and so I was. It was WONDERFUL. And yes, it took a little getting used to at first. One of the reasons I wanted to wean myself off it was that I found myself far too inclined towards…
Read MoreSign of the Times
Just before American Thanksgiving (for those of you here in the US who never gaze northward, Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October), a friend of mine posted this photo on Facebook. I don’t know the name of the man in the picture, nor who took it, but if you do, please let…
Read MoreThis Will Probably Get Me Into Hot Water
Jared Bland, the editor at the Globe & Mail, recently asked what I thought was the biggest danger to emerging writers. Without hesitation I said, “Self-publishing.” He threw back his head and laughed and said it was the best answer he’d heard to date. And, just as quickly, I thought — oh dear, here come…
Read MoreWe Know Not What . . .
Sometimes people ask me why I write. This is a good question, and one I’ll probably spend my life trying to answer. I usually say it’s because when I’m writing I feel as though I’m doing what I am intended to do. I say I write because I’m saner when I do than when I…
Read MoreNarrative Braid — The Teller And The Tale
The other day in the Sharpening the Quill Writers’ Workshop I lead every month, I talked about what’s known as the Universal Story in narrative — the common structure beneath all kinds of narrative. It has a triune form (as do most fairy tales and religious imagery, but that’s something for another day) and consists…
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