Tag: Writescape

Mixing Solitude with the Camaraderie

Lori Twining 6 Comments
Lori Twining ~ Coffee at Sunrise
Lori Twining ~ Coffee at Sunrise, Elmhirst’s Resort

What writer wouldn’t love to disappear from their life and spend an entire week hidden away at a remote location? With no other obligations other than to put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper and tell a story. Maybe, a story no one will ever read? That’s a possibility. But hey, if you are a writer, you will have a strong desire to write that story whether someone reads it or not, right? 

Disappearing to a remote location sounds fantastic, especially after the tough year or two we have experienced. My doctor said I was becoming a workaholic, even though I’m working from home now, and I should take a mental health break. She said something like, “Take a vacation.”

In my mind, I watched her scribble a prescription on her pad for me:

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Escaping the Rabbit Hole

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What does the term “Rabbit Hole” refer to? And why would you want to escape it?

These are both great questions.

The popular term is “falling down the rabbit hole” and for most people, it is a reference to Lewis Carroll’s classic novel Alice in Wonderland, where Carroll described a character disappearing into a world full of chaos or confusion. 

Speculation in the literary world suggests that Carroll was also describing what happens when a person takes a hallucinogenic substance that depicts a wild and freaky drug trip. Others compare it to a metaphor for the entry into the unknown, the gate into a new and exciting place full of adventure and somewhere where you can just get lost and you don’t have to return from it.

What does the freaky trip into the unknown mean to me?

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The Love of the Challenge

Lori Twining 6 Comments

Believe it or not, we are presently living in a significant historic moment. 

Eventually, generations to come (our grandchildren) will be learning about our lives in History class. The teacher will talk about a time period full of a coronavirus that spread like wildfire, borders closed to travellers, businesses closed to shoppers, schools closed to students, protests of police brutality on minority groups, the want and need for diverse literature, leaders struggling to keep their tweets politically correct and kind, people struggling with anxiety and depression… and novelists who could not write.

These are frightening and uncertain times for many of us, so novelists not being able to write is not the end of the world. If you are one of them, just relax. Instead, concentrate on trying to work from home, while teaching your kids new Math skills, while making supper, while doing dishes and laundry, while cancelling all your travel plans, while telling your aging parents you can’t visit just yet. Honestly, you don’t need the added pressure of trying to create a novel.

But, what if you are lost without your writing? You need to write, but can’t?

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Opportunity Knocks on a Holiday Monday

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Seana Moorhead & Lori Twining writing short stories at a Writescape Writing Retreat

Today is not a national statutory holiday in Canada, but in Ontario, Family Day is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of February (and many of us have a holiday away from our daily jobs). This holiday was originally created for people to spend time with their families, however, it also allows a day off between New Years Day and Good Friday (which are three months apart). These three months are a loooooong stretch of time when the sunshine goes on vacation to Florida (to hang out with my parents). When this happens, the Canadians end up battling snowstorms every other day and need to deal with the extremely cold winds whipping through the land freezing our facial expressions of sadness until mid-April.

Family Day is great for people who have young kids that want to celebrate by playing board games all day in their jammies by the fireplace, or going snowshoeing, skating or skiing together in the -35 degree weather. But, if you don’t have children, or if you are like me, your kids have grown up and have moved out, Family Day becomes more of a “Catch-up-on-all-the-other-stuff-you-have-procrastinated-doing” Day.

If you are a writer, it also becomes a “Finish-My-Novel” kind of day or a “Let’s-Write-A-Short-Story” kind of day. After reading Seana Moorhead’s blog post on 10 Reasons to Write Short Stories on January 27th, I thought I should investigate all the possibilities of where to send these newly-created short stories. Then, I decided to share the information with you. There is no better feeling of sending out your work and having it be a finalist (or a winner) in a contest.

Okay, that was a little lie above…

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When Your Struggles Become Golden

Lori Twining 10 Comments

As you get older, struggles become real and shit starts to happen to you (not just to writers, but to the entire population).

Without getting too personal—and grossing you right out—I can tell you that not every orifice in your body is made for bleeding. If it does happen (blood seeping out of a hole it’s not supposed to), that is NOT normal. Lucky for me, this started to happen to my body. You’ll see why I say lucky, instead of unlucky quite soon.

THEN:

I waited three weeks before calling the doctor’s office because seriously, I was just hoping it would stop or disappear. Silly? I know. 

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Turning Leaves and Going Deeper with Andrew Pyper

Lori Twining 2 Comments

Turning Leaves Writing Retreat ~ Writescape

There are so many ways for writers to invest in their future career as an author.

Ultimately, as a writer, it’s your meandering pathway to follow until you get published… However, what if there were a secret in jumpstarting your career and taking the express highway to publishing, eliminating the many wrong turns along the road?

Would you want to know this secret?

Of course you would… or you should. Read more

The Best Writer’s Birthday Gift

Lori Twining 8 Comments

Every writer gets to celebrate one birthday every year. If you have a writer in your life, what do you get them?

Sure, writers love things like coffee, pens, highlighters, cake, wine, empty notebooks (cheap ones from the dollar store will do just fine), leather bound notebooks are awesome too (although most writers are afraid to write in them for fear of wrecking them), coffee, wine, dinner out somewhere, cake, coffee, maybe some more wine, definitely some more cake… but seriously, what is the one present a writer could receive, that would make them the happiest writer you know?

What is it? Read more

Sometimes, I Surprise Myself!

Lori Twining 12 Comments

Sometimes, I resist trying new things, for fear of failure, but eventually, I force myself to do it. Sometimes, I regret the decision instantly and other times, I surprise myself.

All my writing friends know that I hate participating in writing exercises. Those on-the-spot moments where an instructor snaps her finger and says, “We have five minutes, let’s write something with the words: Baby, Police and Dietary Fiber in it. Go!” And, of course, she also mentions we will be reading the exercises out loud. Seriously, I’d rather stare out the window and count snails slithering by, than write something that will waste my time. AND, there is no way I want to read my drivel out loud into the room where every word can bounce back and hit me in the forehead, reminding me how stupid it sounds. Read more