This year’s spring cleaning rituals included a deep dive into my desk drawers and writing files. My version of organizing over-flowing drawers and shelves is to review every single piece of paper, create many ‘keep’ piles and file very little under ‘trash’. The piles are more orderly for the moment and the bonus is that I could not help but get inspired.
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During my last writing retreat, I had a discussion with a few writers about how to nail the emotional thoughts, and inner struggles of a character on the page. How do you make the reader fall in love with your character just by writing dialogue or action? How do you fit in the things only the character knows. How do you decide how many inner thoughts to include? What is too much? Or is not enough? All great questions.
The answer is simple: Find the sweet balance between the characters’ interiority and exteriority within the story you are trying to tell.
ONE OF THE BIG THINGS about creative writing is how much a part of one’s self shows up in the work, even when the theme is something completely fabricated.
I liken writing to a piecework quilt: beyond the grammar and words one selects to stitch everything together (although that can colour everything), in most of what we write, what we design – plot, theme, characters – everything originates as a pastiche of everything we have lived and learned. Just like those quilts that use symbols of colour and form to send a message, our minds gather up all those elements that we have to hand from our experiences and knowledge, even when we’re creating something uniquely from our imagination. Read more
The saying, ‘for the birds’ genererally has a negative bent, but I’d like to give it a positive spin. Editing is often muddled up with mixed emotions—at times rewarding, and others frustrating—but as with any growth, at first you need the discomfort of discovering a change is needed. As a writer, this usually comes from hearing feedback on your work. You might think getting constructive criticism is ‘for the birds’ but this discomfort can lead to necessary improvements.
I’m taking inspiration from my daughter who has recently changed directions like a ‘boss’. Her aspiration was to become a pediatrician, until she embarked on a school trip and came home from this life altering experience to announce, “I hate chemistry. I don’t want to be a doctor.” Read more
Did you know there’s going to be an eclipse this afternoon? Well, depending on when you read this it may have already happened. I’m not in the path of totality, which means that at no time is it safe for me to look at the sun during this eclipse.
And no, I’m not relocating. I have enough to do these days with diapers and the like to keep me busy. I don’t need to chase astronomical phenomena.
I recently travelled to the historical town of Frederick, Maryland. This was not a planned trip but one that came un-expectantly. For those who are not acquainted with Frederick, it has deep historical roots, being located at crossroads between routes east to the Chesapeake Bay and west to Baltimore and Washington DC, only 24 miles away, and along a prominent north-south trail used by Indigenous populations before colonization. The town was founded in 1745 by German settlers and it’s possible that it was named after Frederick the Great, King of Prussia.
My travels to this town started with a death. I will call this person Derek because it is an good old German name. Derek worked for 41 years for the US government before taking a retirement and settling into a blue painted row house in the historic district of Frederick. None of us were exactly sure what he did for the government because he was rather vague about it. He talked about going into work at the Pentagon but he only appeared to work about 1 to 2 days a week, at best. It is possible that he made this up but there’s proof that he was getting a pay check from the government. For these reasons, I assume he might have been a spy.
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In today’s digital age, everything from baby’s first steps to loved ones’ last breaths are easily documented and shared through social media with as wide a circle as one wishes. Technology is a great aid to writing families’ stories and histories, making it easier in many ways. I like to think there is room to expand the practice of documenting and recollecting to share with family and friends.
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Yesterday, on Sunday, March 17th, many people celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by wearing clothing in the symbolic colour green, chugging green beer, and telling dirty Irish limerick jokes around the supper table. I’m lucky to have some Irish blood running through me on my mother’s and father’s sides of the family, so I have a few sweary tales that would make you laugh.
However, I want to share three facts that might blow your mind about St. Patrick’s Day:
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