This morning’s Writer’s Almanac had an interesting quote from Raymond Chandler, discussing Philip Marlowe, the protagonist of his novel The Big Sleep: He must be the best man in his world and good enough for any world. I do not care much about his private life; he is neither a eunuch nor a satyr; IContinue reading “many things at once”
Category Archives: writing
ditching the paywall
I recently removed my fiction on Medium from behind the paywall. When I posted these stories originally, I thought, “Amazing! I can get paid for my writing!” In two years, I’ve made $4.44. Not exactly a windfall. Seth Godin defines art as “a human act, a generous contribution, something that might not work, and itContinue reading “ditching the paywall”
sharing what you have
I just published two new stories on my Medium page, where I keep all my fiction. One is the story of two childhood friends who suffer the pains of outgrowing one another and the other the story of a suburban teenager who learns the housewife he pines for isn’t what she seems. Neither of theseContinue reading “sharing what you have”
a really good bucket
In the process of listening to interviews with Jennifer Egan and Elizabeth Strout, I’ve been pondering the roll of the unconscious in writing and art making. Both Strout and Egan talk about how writing flows from someplace beyond the conscious mind. Speaking about her 2019 novel, Olive, Again, Strout says the famous character appeared toContinue reading “a really good bucket”
let your unconscious do the work
I’ve been trying to take a page from Jennifer Egan’s book lately and allow my unconscious do the work. This means writing by hand, following characters where they want to go. I wrote a scene this morning I thought was going to end with a character forcing their way onstage to perform at a bar.Continue reading “let your unconscious do the work”
somewhere to be terrible
I’ve been dabbling with collages for a few years now. It helps me clear my head and express what I can’t with words. But somewhere down the line, I got stuck. The process of cutting and pasting became too important. I’d wind up crushing a finished collage under the weight of what I expected itContinue reading “somewhere to be terrible”
get bored
I’ve had problems working on one thing at a time for my entire life. Call it a kind of creative ADHD. I’ll sit down to write a story, get bored or confused or frustrated, then decide to work on something else. With as many ideas as I have, this happens all the time. I’ll swapContinue reading “get bored”
why we want mirrors
I’ve written several times about Fran Liebowitz’s discussion of books from the Netflix series, Pretend It’s a City. The most striking of her comments, being of course, the moment when she says, “a book isn’t supposed to be a mirror, it’s supposed to be a door!” Jennifer Egan expands upon this idea in this interviewContinue reading “why we want mirrors”
morning pages
Some days you’re just stuck. There’s no blood flowing. It’s hard to come up with anything to say. That’s what the morning pages are for. You show up and write three pages long hand. It’s not art, it’s not even really writing. It’s thinking on that page. It’s allowing your mind to roam and beContinue reading “morning pages”
write it anyway
This morning, I committed to working on a project that scares me. It’s a story that isn’t mine to tell. It delves into a topic I’m by no means an expert in. It makes me nervous. It would probably get me “cancelled.” I’m writing it anyway. Bad things happen when we censor ourselves as weContinue reading “write it anyway”
