While contemplating the Wye Oak, Yo La Tengo, The National show last night at the majestic Academy of Music, I occasionally had good ideas about writing. (Yes, I need an excuse to blog, and lucky me, I have one tonight!) I was thinking about how to manage my writing process, keeping the one month manuscript […]
I’m quite fortunate in that two friends have already given me comments on my memoir collection. (I only distributed my memoir a week ago.) Interestingly, the piece I consider my weakest was rated among the favorites and the least favorites, respectively. The world remains a place of diverse sensibilities. I’m already faced with a pile […]
Last night was our last night in Montreal. We were at bar with awesome live music–watching by far the most enthusiastic rock organ player ever. The bar wouldn’t close until 3am. My instinct was to enjoy the band for an hour, get a feel for the place and the music, but get home early-ish. I […]
I find it nearly impossible to write while on vacation. I’m too happy. My thoughts meander sideways. I’m absorbed by the new locale, and I am full of half formed reflections. My brain is busy contrasting my home town against Montreal, trying to imagine what it might be like to live here. I’m evaluating the […]
Today I reviewed a piece of fiction I have been working on for eight years. Eight years. It’s a short story I’m very attached to, but I can’t get it to come out quite right. It’s not like I’ve been continually working on it for eight years, it’s just that I haven’t gotten it into […]
I was looking over a bistrot menu and it was in french, and it was full of french menu items. I wasn’t in France. I was in Quebec, where they have genteel, continental ways. The citizens are slightly more stylish than those of the average american city. Everyone is riding bikes. I really like it […]
This is my second blog site, but something about owning my own domain has changed the game for me. Maybe because it feels like I’m finally making a sizable commitment to my craft. You heard me–I really mean it this time (the claiming of a writerly identity I whisper). The creation of this blog (a […]
One of the horrible aspects of writing is how much waiting it requires. I hate waiting. just like Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride movie. Things you have to wait for when you’re a writer: Ideas (a spark of a notion that makes you want to write) Ideas about your ideas (plots, characters, scenes) Clarity […]
Last night I went through a major rite of passage. I sent my first full manuscript (a memoir) to a handful of friends for their loving and brutal critique. Lucky for them, it’s a short manuscript. Only 160 pages (which will be about 120 pages when typeset.) I’ve given them a month to read (and […]
I have no idea what I’m doing (owning a site, and being responsible for technical things), but here I go doing it. You’ll have to tolerate my learning curve. I’ve decided to start a new blog on writing. The process of writing my memoir was documented here. Why write about writing? I know. You haven’t […]