I have added several new pages to my new website, changed the colors, added more photos and, in general, given it my best shot so far with my current skill level in website design (read: minimal – moderate). I am still baffled by how to connect this to a Google search so it’s actually helpful…
Category: Reflections on Writing
Web Site Construction: Ugh
I have been working all evening on my writing website. I hope to have it finished by Sunday evening at the latest. I am trying not to be too perfectionistic about this. It is frustrating, however since the template isn’t working as well as I had hoped. For example, the colors on the page are…
The Wisdom of Letting Go
I have had the occasion over the past few days to talk to several people who are in pain. In one case, a parent is worried about an adult child who is having serious issues; in another, a friend is worried about another friend who is terminally ill. Worry is the operative word here. Worry…
Novel Writing, Disappointments and Baby Steps
For those of you who don’t know, I am working on a novel. This is my second serious attempt at long fiction; the first completed manuscript is lying in the bottom of my desk drawer after not finding a home among publishers. The first is memoir turned fiction and is based partly on real-life events…
One of Those Days
I am not certain what to write about tonight. I’ve had several false starts, meaning that I’ve written a paragraph and then erased the whole thing. Some days are easier than others when it comes to writing this blog and today is one of the harder ones. I have attempted at least four different topics,…
Lessons from Two Masters
I just finished helping a student finish his 10 page term paper on how Edith Wharton’s and Tennessee Williams’ lives inspired Ethan Frome and The Glass Menagerie. The truth is that both of their lives are right there on those pages, disguised as other people dealing with problems of guilt, abandonment, thwarted dreams and societal…
A Great Essay by Phillip Lopate
This is a wonderful piece written by Phillip Lopate, who is one of the premier essayist in the United States. It is very informative to anyone who writes memoir because Lopate encourages the writer to not only include scenes which showcase the child’s perspective of the world (or the less mature perspective), but also to…
A Welcome Discovery Related to Writing
Today I worked on my novel. I have discovered an excellent way to get this done during the week when I often have trouble finding time for my writing. I have a writing friend – one of my former students who has since graduated from college with a writing degree – who comes every week…
On Patience
I have discovered that over the years I have developed patience. I can sit for the required amount of time to unknot a chain on a necklace or go line-by-line through a story, essay or novel chapter to provide the needed commas, semicolons, dashes or periods. I am also capable of sorting through a drawer…
Back to the Pure Fun of Writing a Novel
I am back to working on my novel, one scene at a time. This has been an off and on process for the past couple of years, but now I am regularly putting pen to paper (yes, handwritten) and am moving forward. I have determined that handwriting my first draft produces a deeper, slower look…
20 Minutes a Day 