You know what writers need? Distractions. Humor. Maybe double-amounts of humor, actually. Words and criticism—from the self or silence or someone else—are serious business. Maybe we need to share a movie recommendation or two to help balance that out. 🙂
Category Archives: Writer’s Life
Overly Eager
I’m not sure it is possible to be overly eager with a project, unless it makes you sloppy. I figure that eagerness should help brace you through research. However, I’ve been recently reminded that I can still be overly eager! Particularly with early readers.
Filed under Writer Troubles, Writer's Life
Mom said!
It is with humor and awe that I think of my children. Admittedly, I’m biased. Still, I’m going to share a little anecdote which may or may not demonstrate the joy of having an author in the family. Like many other stories it centers oddly on “Mom said!”
Filed under Writer's Life
A Merciful Servant of the Cross
Sometimes I feared I was half out of my mind. I was bulging with my first child and I don’t experience pregnancy easily. I was busy on my deaconess internship, where I helped a half dozen people at four locations or more. I knew I wanted to write, but I could hardly grab the opportunities I heard of—I was never sure I had the time, energy, patience or skill. But I went for it and wrote in a mindful effort to be a merciful servant of the cross.
Filed under My projects, Writer's Life
Reach Others
I’m just going to rip that line out of a paragraph so we can digest that a little bit. It seems to me that there are two big parts to this thought: a) we can reach others, and b) we can appeal to imagination in order to do so. Suddenly, imagination is a tool in our hands, and a connective one at that.
Filed under Writer's Life
Study Questions
I recently scored a little gig writing study questions. It’s pretty nice: read essays, think about it, and write up some related questions to help digest or apply the material. The essays are on mercy, which is a subject particularly close to my heart, and I’ll be happy to announce that book when it gets released sometime around October.
Filed under Writer's Life
Sequels
Sequels are supposed to come second, so why in the world am I torn between writing a first and second novel? Shouldn’t I recognize the starting place?
Filed under Writer Troubles, Writer's Life
Stirring Blood
I’ve just come home from a much needed vacation and it was great. Sleeping in a hotel last night, however, a compulsion came upon me. I needed to reread a certain set of books to stir my blood. “Stir my blood?!” That is not language I typically use, but maybe novels are precisely the remedy for certain times of unbalanced humors. Stirring blood to re-quicken the rest of me!
Filed under Writer's Life
Filling Time
The time has come upon me. Instead of filling time, I’m getting swept away in the season of pre-filled, stress-inducing over-scheduling. I can’t say it’s altogether a bad thing. We’re prepping for a vacation, returning to some housework, and going back to school. To my horror, the public schools around here will start August 10th! Still, it’s hard to push down regret for all those imagined times to write I missed this summer, so let’s re-imagine, if you will, in an ongoing effort to keep writing in our schedules.
Filed under Theological reflection, Writer's Life