My favorite day is Saturday. My favorite color is dog tongue and empty bowl. My favorite color is “happy,” the way my son says it, clutching his small ambulance. My favorite day is Thursday. Thumb of circumstance. My favorite window hinges on the distance of open and closed, my heart its trapped glass blushing a sunset-streaked descent. My favorite dream … Read More
making time for writing: part 2
Time. A writer’s greatest gift. A writer’s greatest challenge. How are you spending yours? How could you be spending it better? Here are a few tips to help. HONOR YOUR RHYTHMS Honor your biorhythms by planning your writing time for the part of the day you’re most capable of doing it. For example, my friend Chloe De Segonzac just wrote … Read More
Thirst
We understand least what we hold closest. Cup contains, water resists. Thirst: a lineage of cups with no trust in the future. What wakes you up in the night mouth empty, sheets blank might be the faucet’s dumb neck arched with a brassy assurance that you have not yet learned to tap.
Making time for writing: part 1
The universal chorus of complaint from writers of all stripes seems to be: not enough time. The truth is, writers make time for writing. And everyone does it her own way. Your job is to find your way. Every Tuesday for the next, six weeks I’ll be offering suggestions to help you investigate how your relationship with time is moving … Read More
From Dysfunction to Duende
“What is to give light must endure burning” — Viktor Frankl More often than not, when I tell people that I write poetry, they get a wistful, faraway look in their eyes. Exhaling deeply, they admit, “I used to write poetry once, too.” When I inquire as to why they no longer write poetry, the answer is so invariably the … Read More
Convenience Kills
I remember reading the news article about people dying from E. coli occurring in pre-washed, pre-cut, plastic-bagged spinach. At that time, I also read an interview Susie Bright conducted with a farmer who explained that spinach in and of itself is not dangerous. It is our passion for convenience—to open a bag of vegetables that someone has already cleaned and … Read More
Author Erika Dreifus contemplates how memory informs poetry and prose
Erika Dreifus is a force of incredible goodwill, generosity, intelligence and service in the literary landscape. I first encountered her through her role as editor/publisher of The Practicing Writer, a free (and popular) e-newsletter featuring advice, opportunities, and resources on the craft and business of writing for fictionists, poets, and writers of creative nonfiction. And then I had the good … Read More
Transforming fear to courage: Tip #6
YES, THAT SUCCESS COUNTS I often find myself arguing with students and friends who have a whole litany of reasons why their various successes “don’t count.” These folks always have a persuasive story about how they could have done better—published in a more reputable magazine or presented to a more prestigious crowd. Of course, there are always opportunities to do … Read More
Dear Theo,
Don’t let anyone tell you an apple tastes the same in slices as it does in bites. Or that you won’t find sharks and elephants and mommies on Old MacDonald’s farm. You know the ladybug and her captor spider have equal rights in the weave of life, and that metaphor can be chewed from toast. May you find in pirate … Read More
Transforming fear to courage: Tip #5
You’re already doing it! “I always wanted to be a creative writer but was never brave enough to really do it. The cost of failure seemed too great. So I pursued a number of other things—photography, art history, Asian studies. At some point in my mid-twenties, I quit my job in art history and found a writing job. One where … Read More