Writing a Novel: What’s Your Point?

We are big Ted Lasso fans in our house. I love the messages about vulnerability, the importance of friendships, the challenge to toxic masculinity in sport and the wide world, and Ted’s down home quips that remind me of every great aunt sitting around our family reunions growing up with similar silly sayings twisting their

Using a Growth Mindset to Make the Most of Feedback on Your Writing

In the second grade, I got a perfect score on my greater than and less than test. A perfect zero. I had mixed up the way the alligator was supposed to open his mouth. In true writer fashion, I’d created a narrative to help me remember and, according to my reasoning, the alligator ATE the

Playing NaNoWriMo Without Writing a Book

I recently spoke with a couple of writers who were both eager to jump start their creativity with new projects. One has been dominated by editing work recently and so her own creative writing had taken a back seat. She had six different ideas for stories and was tempted to try NaNoWriMo but didn’t know

Creative Growth

I pass this tree on my trail walks. I am not sure when I first noticed the tree, but I know since my dad died in 2018, I haven’t missed it. It’s like I’m compelled to take a moment and acknowledge the tree’s presence on the trail. Its struggle to keep growing a little of

Storytelling on the Field

I was a band kid. I played flute in concert band, but what I loved more than anything was marching band and performing on the color guard in high school through my four years at UNC Chapel Hill. There is nothing like standing in a sequin-adorned bolero jacket and cummerbund over a white mock turtleneck

How Drafting and Revising Feel Different: The Clean House Edition

As I type this, we are having our house power washed. It feels like I’m inside a car wash while sitting at my desk. I don’t hate it. Power washing a home must be an inordinately satisfying job. You arrive and the walkway is darkened with years of baked in dirt. The fascia is dull.

A Look Back

It is hard to look back on a year that is so currently in your face. We are facing the worst numbers in the pandemic so far, making the cold, winter months ahead more intimidating. The election is behind us, but political bickering continues. And civil unrest–well the fact is we shouldn’t leave that one

The Light at the End of the Rough Draft Tunnel

This morning I reached the end of the verbal vomit brain dump that is this current work in progress rough draft. There is light at the end of this very long, often uphill, tunnel. The light at the end of the tunnel is just the light of an oncoming train. Robert Lowell Yes. The light

Reconnecting With Your Writer’s Muse During a Global Pandemic

Back in January, I started work on a brand new manuscript. I took out my calendar and counted the available days between January and May, excluding weekends and my kids’ school breaks (they attend year round school so every nine weeks they have a three week break – there would be one in late February/early

The End 2.0

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. – Michelangelo Today. For the second time in my life, I reached “The End” on a book I’ve written. This time, however, I didn’t actually type the words. It felt different this time. I know it’s not the end. Not really.