The Importance of Writer Tribes in a Creative’s Life
I’ve been thinking a lot about tribes and how important they are in a writer’s life. Writers are often solitary beings so joining a group, any kind of group, can be stressful and intimidating. We writers write because writing is easier than interacting. Not for everyone, I know, but it’s certainly the case for me. So while I’m a writer who enjoys being alone, I also yearn to connect with people. Not often, probably far less than others, but I do have that yearning. I realized this when I first…
Wasting Writing Time: 50 Ways I’ve Done It
I just finished a story on Medium about wasting writing time and 50 ways I’ve done that. When you get to middle age as I am, you realize how precious time is, which also makes you regret the time you’ve wasted. Granted, I haven’t wasted all of my time. I wrote during my 20s and 30s and have even published work, but I often feel like I could have produced more had I been more focused on the right things. What Are the Right Things? Figuring out what those right…
The Struggle Between My Words and the World’s
These last few weeks I’ve been immersed in the final edits of my novel. It’s the slow time for my gardening day job. I sit for two-hour-long chunks (or more) and I read and type words. This has been productive. I’ve lived in the world of my novel: Paris, plants, the people I’ve created. I hear nothing else except the dog barking occasionally, the hum of the heater blowing warmth in the room. I can concentrate, I can think, “No, ‘harsh, steady rain’ is better here because I used ‘downpour’…
