1. I'm most creative when I have done the research and I have the thing in front of me to write, or when the picture presents itself and cannot be ignored.
2. If I were a color, I'd be blue leaning toward purple. Blue is the color of the sky and the sea, purple means a little passion has been tossed in.
3. I often imagine myself as the heroine of a fantasy, fighting dragons with magic. I would love to be able to toss a lightning bolt at somebody, just every now and then.
4. I really wish I knew how to cook well. I can cook enough to feed us, but I would like to be able to cook like Julia Childs except in a healthy way. I don't want to give anybody diabetes.
5. I've love to spend a lazy Sunday visiting cemeteries in Scotland, with a big ol' castle looming nearby. Fog from moors and all that.
6. My secret talent is being able to answer many of the more obscure questions about authors and books on Jeopardy. I don't always get the popular culture ones, but ask a question about John Donne and I'm there.
7. When I am angry, I try to get over it quickly but sometimes it lingers. I am also slow to anger, but once I'm there, look out! You might as well get out of the way.
8. My college graduation is coming in May. It looks like it will happen - the thesis first draft was handed back to me with some red marks but nothing serious. A little rewriting and it will be done, I think. I am looking forward to the graduation, but I am also a little sad about it. I really enjoy school and learning.
9. My main goal in life has been, for quite some time, to be content and unfrazzled. I am thinking I need to aim for something else in my later years, though content and unfrazzled is nice.
10. I am pretty tired of people trying to foist their beliefs and values upon me and others. How did limited government also come to mean dictating who you marry, what you do with your own body, who you sleep with, and in what position you do the deed? Those just don't go together.
11. My husband has all of the love that I am capable of giving; I haven't looked at anyone else in the last 28 years and don't plan to look at anyone else ever again. Love is a strong, abiding emotion, love with friendshipo can withstand pretty much anything, I think.
12. Every morning I wake up, put on my robe, enter my office, switch on the computer, put my tea kettle on to boil, return to my office, check my email and Facebook, and then drink my tea. It's not a bad routine but I sometimes think I need to change it.
13. This Thursday Thirteen is the result of a combination of questions I saw asked of contributors to the February Oprah magazine and The Rainbow Meme, which does not exactly ask any of the last six things I wrote down but from which I took inspiration. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here.
I've been playing for a while and this is my 227th time to do a list of 13 on a
Thursday.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
That Damn Muse
When I was a young whippersnapper, one day in some English class, we had a discussion about writing novels and stories.
Crafted, the teacher said. Created with an outline. Every word chosen with care, knowing the significance of each and every nuance.
If an author puts in a work that it's a sailboat, not a steamboat, or that the sailor's eyes are yellow, there's a reason for that, said she.
What if they just want the eyes to be yellow? asked the whippersnapper.
No, they never just want them to be anything without it meaning something, said the teacher. If they want them to be yellow, it's to convey sickness or jealousy or some other emotion that we might connect with that color.
I think not, said the whippersnapper, whispering to herself.
Because I thought that stories were magic.
They sprang whole from the brains of the writer like Athena from the brain of Zeus, or a hobbit from the ground.
Sound. Complete. Finished. And most likely, they didn't realize half the time that when they made someone's eyes yellow, they meant for it to be dissected in an English class. They just meant for the eyes to be yellow, and if someone thought that meant the person was sick, well, so be it.
Sometime thereafter I learned about first, second, and third drafts, but that didn't sway me. Sure, they had to make changes. Nobody gets the commas right! Sometimes you get in a hurry when you're typing and you put a preposition at the end. You have to fix that stuff.
I believed in the call of the muse, I did. The whippersnapper thought the words danced around in the writer's head like music, each note a chime in the ear, a tickle on the brain, a taste of thyme on the tongue.
Just listen to that voice, thought the whippersnapper, and the words will flow.
And sometimes, that is how it happens. Sometimes the words do come falling out of the ether, tumbling into the mind like fluffy snowflakes from gray skies. Sometimes words just pour out like the waters of the Amazon, still one minute, rapid the next. It might wear you out to try to catch them.
But just as often, maybe more so, it's the craft that pulls the story along, not the waters flowing from the invisible fountain. It's the sitting and staring at the paper, ink pen at the ready, scribbling hither and yon, testing this word and that. Why not purple eyes, or blue? But then yellow ... no, that word is the best.
The whippersnapper and teacher both were right, I think. The muse speaks ... the craft guides the hand. The two work in tandem, one pushing the other.
But I lean too much on the muse. I wait too long for the whisper. I forget to steer the craft.
Because the darned boat will sink if I'm not careful, while I'm sitting there waiting on the muse to take up the oars.
Crafted, the teacher said. Created with an outline. Every word chosen with care, knowing the significance of each and every nuance.
If an author puts in a work that it's a sailboat, not a steamboat, or that the sailor's eyes are yellow, there's a reason for that, said she.
What if they just want the eyes to be yellow? asked the whippersnapper.
No, they never just want them to be anything without it meaning something, said the teacher. If they want them to be yellow, it's to convey sickness or jealousy or some other emotion that we might connect with that color.
I think not, said the whippersnapper, whispering to herself.
Because I thought that stories were magic.
They sprang whole from the brains of the writer like Athena from the brain of Zeus, or a hobbit from the ground.
Sound. Complete. Finished. And most likely, they didn't realize half the time that when they made someone's eyes yellow, they meant for it to be dissected in an English class. They just meant for the eyes to be yellow, and if someone thought that meant the person was sick, well, so be it.
Sometime thereafter I learned about first, second, and third drafts, but that didn't sway me. Sure, they had to make changes. Nobody gets the commas right! Sometimes you get in a hurry when you're typing and you put a preposition at the end. You have to fix that stuff.
I believed in the call of the muse, I did. The whippersnapper thought the words danced around in the writer's head like music, each note a chime in the ear, a tickle on the brain, a taste of thyme on the tongue.
Just listen to that voice, thought the whippersnapper, and the words will flow.
And sometimes, that is how it happens. Sometimes the words do come falling out of the ether, tumbling into the mind like fluffy snowflakes from gray skies. Sometimes words just pour out like the waters of the Amazon, still one minute, rapid the next. It might wear you out to try to catch them.
But just as often, maybe more so, it's the craft that pulls the story along, not the waters flowing from the invisible fountain. It's the sitting and staring at the paper, ink pen at the ready, scribbling hither and yon, testing this word and that. Why not purple eyes, or blue? But then yellow ... no, that word is the best.
The whippersnapper and teacher both were right, I think. The muse speaks ... the craft guides the hand. The two work in tandem, one pushing the other.
But I lean too much on the muse. I wait too long for the whisper. I forget to steer the craft.
Because the darned boat will sink if I'm not careful, while I'm sitting there waiting on the muse to take up the oars.
For Local Writers
The Roanoke Regional Writers Conference has created a blog. I believe the intent is to foster a writer's community.
Writers can post events, book publishings, etc., on the blog, as well as, I suppose, have dialogue in the comments section.
Writers can post events, book publishings, etc., on the blog, as well as, I suppose, have dialogue in the comments section.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
5th Annual Roanoke Regional Writer's Conference
Yesterday I attended the 5th Annual Roanoke Regional Writers Conference at Hollins University.
While the event is held at the college, it was founded and apparently continues to be run by Dan Smith, who operates Valley Business Front. Dan has a blog, fromtheeditor, which will have other pictures about this event on it if you are interested.
Hollins University has in recent years taken a more active role in this event, but I am not clear as to what exactly its role in this writers conference is. President Nancy Gray gave a little welcoming speech Friday night, and Cathyrn Hankla, Director of Hollins Creative Writing MFA program, gave a talk and she attended the events on Saturday. I also saw Hollins professor Jeanne Larsen there. They may have been other from Hollins in attendance whom I do not know.
I did not attend the reception and opening events on Friday night, so I cannot comment on that.
The event is good for networking and for seeing old friends. Becky Mushko, a fellow blogger, was there, along with a number of other folks I know, including Beth Rossi, Brenda Isaacs, Elizabeth Jones, Bonnie Cranmer, Peggy Shifflett, the aforementioned Hollins professors, and others.
The Roanoke Regional Writers Conference is essentially a lineup of 45 minute mini-classes, ranging in topic from "Advice from Literary Agents" to "The Memoir." There were 23 different classes to choose from throughout the day, and each is only offered one time. So you have to pick what you want for every particular hour and hope you get a good one.
Here are the classes I attended:
The Last Redoubt: Writing Short Stories for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Markets
Mike Allen, a reporter for The Roanoke Times and a science fiction writer, offered up great information about writing for this genre, including lots of links to various websites that all sound interesting. He discussed story length, submission times, and how to figure out if you're writing fantasy, horror, science fiction, or something else. He did a good job with the time he had, handling it well and continually moving the conversation forward. He introduced me to a new term, "Steampunk," which was not something I had heard of before.
Anytime I learn something, I am happy. I thought this was a good seminar.
Structuring Your (Nonfiction) Storytelling
Unfortunately, the person offering this seminar (I won't name names when it was bad) did not handle his time well. He was unable to make it through his handout (which he in fact did not hand out but I managed to snag a copy on my way out the door). He also stumbled through much of what he did talk about. I was quite disappointed.
His points (greatly parred down from his outline)
1. Outline
2. Learn the five-step writing process (idea, collect information, refocus, draft, polish).
3. How would you tell a friend this story in a hurry?
4. Use unorthodox sources (journals, emails, etc)
5. Use scenes (show don't tell - that's my note, not his)
6. Beginnings and endings
7. Rewrite, make it shorter
8. Think of it as a one-act play
9. Use sidebars and graphics
10. Consider multimedia
To me, even those points seem rather scattered, really. Perhaps he should have focused on the items in his #2 and left the rest alone.
Notice What You Notice: How to Find, Recognize and Hunt Down Story Ideas
Beth Macy, who is, hands down, the best writer The Roanoke Times has, wowed everyone with her talk about how to find stories and ideas.
When I was an undergraduate at Hollins, Beth and I were in several classes together. She was in the MA program, working on her creative writing degree, so we were students there at the same time though I was a lowly bachelor degree candidate. I have admired her work for some time; she has grown as a writer and a journalist to a great degree. We're about the same age, so I try to keep the envy down to a minimum. But it would be easy to be envious of her work. (You can read one of her stories in today's paper here.)
My notes from her talk go like this:
Be honest about the good and the bad
Reserve judgment
Figure out your own life theme
That's it. There is nothing magic about that, but it was a great talk and very inspiring.
Playing with Words: What Poetry Can Teach the Prose Writer About Metaphors and Word Play
Some of these folks need to work on their seminar titles, don't they? Anyway, Jim Minnick, a Radford University professor and author of The Blueberry Years, (full disclosure: I reviewed his book) led the seminar-attendees in an exercise about metaphor. He admonished us to "see beyond what's there" to find something new and exciting.
He also cautioned against using cliche, and said that all good writing is actually writing against cliche.
This was a fun and interactive 45 minutes.
Sources for Research
Hollins librarian Maryke Barber once again offered up very useful and terrific information for researchers and knowledge-seekers of all kinds. I have attended her seminars before, and worked with her a little while working on this masters degree, and she is fantastic.
Some of the websites she gave that I hope to look at soon:
http://www.doaj.org
http://www.europeana.eu
http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/small/vhp
http://www.worldcat.org
http://www.zuula.com
http://www.wolframalpha.com
And many others that I think will be fun to look at.
Very informative!
The Memoir
Since I am, for all intents and purposes, writing a memoir as my thesis, I thought this seminar would be worthwhile. I was right! Peggy Shifflett, a retired Radford University professor and author of The Living Room Bed and two other memoirs, gave a great presentation on writing memoir.
Full disclosure: I edited The Living Room Bed for her.
I took lots of notes in this seminar:
She suggested two books on memoir writing: How to Write a Memoir, by William Zinssar, and Your Life as a Story, by Tristin Ranior.
What's the difference between a memoir and an autobiography? A memoir is a memory from your life. An autobiography is the story of your life.
A formal memoir has a message. But a memoir can also be an informal family history, an oral history, or a combination of history and memory mixed. This blog you are reading is a memoir.
Do not dodge the traumatic or neglect the enjoyable.
Go ahead and have your own catharsis while you're writing your memoir. Your readers might have their own catharsis, too.
Start out with something important.
Use all of your senses when you're writing.
Build your writing muscle and write as often as you can.
Peggy, who is a friend, did a great job with this seminar. I hope she asked to return.
Final Thoughts
This wasn't a seminar, this is me summing up the day! I left after The Memoir; there was a panel discussion at the end but when I last attended in 2010 I found that to be a downer so I didn't go. I left on a high note and thus have warm and fuzzies from the event, even with the one clunker seminar in the early hours.
Writing is something that I will always do, and I can't imagine not doing it. But sometimes it is a challenge, and trying to make a living at it in recent years has gone beyond challenge into gut-wrenching and blood-letting. It is no wonder I have felt burned out.
This writer's conference, though, was very uplifting and I feel bouyed by the sense of community and by the conversations I had with others at the event.
Nice job!
While the event is held at the college, it was founded and apparently continues to be run by Dan Smith, who operates Valley Business Front. Dan has a blog, fromtheeditor, which will have other pictures about this event on it if you are interested.
Hollins University has in recent years taken a more active role in this event, but I am not clear as to what exactly its role in this writers conference is. President Nancy Gray gave a little welcoming speech Friday night, and Cathyrn Hankla, Director of Hollins Creative Writing MFA program, gave a talk and she attended the events on Saturday. I also saw Hollins professor Jeanne Larsen there. They may have been other from Hollins in attendance whom I do not know.
I did not attend the reception and opening events on Friday night, so I cannot comment on that.
The event is good for networking and for seeing old friends. Becky Mushko, a fellow blogger, was there, along with a number of other folks I know, including Beth Rossi, Brenda Isaacs, Elizabeth Jones, Bonnie Cranmer, Peggy Shifflett, the aforementioned Hollins professors, and others.
The Roanoke Regional Writers Conference is essentially a lineup of 45 minute mini-classes, ranging in topic from "Advice from Literary Agents" to "The Memoir." There were 23 different classes to choose from throughout the day, and each is only offered one time. So you have to pick what you want for every particular hour and hope you get a good one.
Here are the classes I attended:
The Last Redoubt: Writing Short Stories for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Markets
Mike Allen, a reporter for The Roanoke Times and a science fiction writer, offered up great information about writing for this genre, including lots of links to various websites that all sound interesting. He discussed story length, submission times, and how to figure out if you're writing fantasy, horror, science fiction, or something else. He did a good job with the time he had, handling it well and continually moving the conversation forward. He introduced me to a new term, "Steampunk," which was not something I had heard of before.
Anytime I learn something, I am happy. I thought this was a good seminar.
Structuring Your (Nonfiction) Storytelling
Unfortunately, the person offering this seminar (I won't name names when it was bad) did not handle his time well. He was unable to make it through his handout (which he in fact did not hand out but I managed to snag a copy on my way out the door). He also stumbled through much of what he did talk about. I was quite disappointed.
His points (greatly parred down from his outline)
1. Outline
2. Learn the five-step writing process (idea, collect information, refocus, draft, polish).
3. How would you tell a friend this story in a hurry?
4. Use unorthodox sources (journals, emails, etc)
5. Use scenes (show don't tell - that's my note, not his)
6. Beginnings and endings
7. Rewrite, make it shorter
8. Think of it as a one-act play
9. Use sidebars and graphics
10. Consider multimedia
To me, even those points seem rather scattered, really. Perhaps he should have focused on the items in his #2 and left the rest alone.
Notice What You Notice: How to Find, Recognize and Hunt Down Story Ideas
Beth Macy, who is, hands down, the best writer The Roanoke Times has, wowed everyone with her talk about how to find stories and ideas.
When I was an undergraduate at Hollins, Beth and I were in several classes together. She was in the MA program, working on her creative writing degree, so we were students there at the same time though I was a lowly bachelor degree candidate. I have admired her work for some time; she has grown as a writer and a journalist to a great degree. We're about the same age, so I try to keep the envy down to a minimum. But it would be easy to be envious of her work. (You can read one of her stories in today's paper here.)
My notes from her talk go like this:
Be honest about the good and the bad
Reserve judgment
Figure out your own life theme
That's it. There is nothing magic about that, but it was a great talk and very inspiring.
Playing with Words: What Poetry Can Teach the Prose Writer About Metaphors and Word Play
Some of these folks need to work on their seminar titles, don't they? Anyway, Jim Minnick, a Radford University professor and author of The Blueberry Years, (full disclosure: I reviewed his book) led the seminar-attendees in an exercise about metaphor. He admonished us to "see beyond what's there" to find something new and exciting.
He also cautioned against using cliche, and said that all good writing is actually writing against cliche.
This was a fun and interactive 45 minutes.
Sources for Research
Hollins librarian Maryke Barber once again offered up very useful and terrific information for researchers and knowledge-seekers of all kinds. I have attended her seminars before, and worked with her a little while working on this masters degree, and she is fantastic.
Some of the websites she gave that I hope to look at soon:
http://www.doaj.org
http://www.europeana.eu
http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/small/vhp
http://www.worldcat.org
http://www.zuula.com
http://www.wolframalpha.com
And many others that I think will be fun to look at.
Very informative!
The Memoir
Since I am, for all intents and purposes, writing a memoir as my thesis, I thought this seminar would be worthwhile. I was right! Peggy Shifflett, a retired Radford University professor and author of The Living Room Bed and two other memoirs, gave a great presentation on writing memoir.
Full disclosure: I edited The Living Room Bed for her.
I took lots of notes in this seminar:
She suggested two books on memoir writing: How to Write a Memoir, by William Zinssar, and Your Life as a Story, by Tristin Ranior.
What's the difference between a memoir and an autobiography? A memoir is a memory from your life. An autobiography is the story of your life.
A formal memoir has a message. But a memoir can also be an informal family history, an oral history, or a combination of history and memory mixed. This blog you are reading is a memoir.
Do not dodge the traumatic or neglect the enjoyable.
Go ahead and have your own catharsis while you're writing your memoir. Your readers might have their own catharsis, too.
Start out with something important.
Use all of your senses when you're writing.
Build your writing muscle and write as often as you can.
Peggy, who is a friend, did a great job with this seminar. I hope she asked to return.
Final Thoughts
This wasn't a seminar, this is me summing up the day! I left after The Memoir; there was a panel discussion at the end but when I last attended in 2010 I found that to be a downer so I didn't go. I left on a high note and thus have warm and fuzzies from the event, even with the one clunker seminar in the early hours.
Writing is something that I will always do, and I can't imagine not doing it. But sometimes it is a challenge, and trying to make a living at it in recent years has gone beyond challenge into gut-wrenching and blood-letting. It is no wonder I have felt burned out.
This writer's conference, though, was very uplifting and I feel bouyed by the sense of community and by the conversations I had with others at the event.
Nice job!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday Thirteen
Today, I thought I'd list some books about writing. All of these are in my office somewhere.
1. The Chicago Manual of Style, current edition. This is a style guide, but it contains great information about important things like sentence structure, comma placement, and capitalization. For fun, check out the monthly answers to questions that people ask at the Style website. You will be amazed.
2. Guide to Fiction Writing, by Phyllis A. Whitney. Published in 1982, this is one of the best guides for writing genre fiction that I have ever read. Phyllis Whitney authored many award-winning books, mostly mysteries and "gothics." I read her work when I was growing up. This book, which covers everything from plot to characterization, appears to be out of print, but if you have an interest in learning how to create genre fiction, I urge you to seek out a copy.
3. Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, Roget's Desk Thesaurus, Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, The Random House Dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary. Yes, I have all of these reference books at my fingertips. What can I say? If you're a writer, you should have a couple of good dictionaries and a thesaurus or two at the ready.
4. Writer's Market, current edition, from Writer's Digest. I tend to buy these every other year instead of annually, because they can get expensive. They offer good advice on writing and on the writing business in articles that come before listings of places that might buy your work, though.
5. Writing the Natural Way, by Gabrielle Rico. This book advocates something called clustering, which is a way to make unusual connections, that I have used for 20 years to good effect.
6. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard. This is not a writing book, per se, but I find it inspirational in one way, and an example of what not to do in others. The book is filled with wonderful description, but I often get bogged down in the words. It's a good reminder to me to find that fine line between overwriting and explanation, and drawing in the reader. I urge every writer to find that special book that makes them think and helps them transition from reading to writing. This is that book for me. Dillard also has a book called The Writing Life that you might find more to your liking, if you want to read something by a Pulitzer Prize winner.
7. The Courage to Write, by Ralph Keyes. Many writers, myself included, suffer anxiety when they sit down. The fear? Is it good enough, what if it is good enough, what do I do with it, am I worthy? - it's a long litany that runs through the head. This book helps calm the jitters and offers up suggestions on ways to keep the blank page from becoming a monster in your dreams.
8. If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland. One of the best books for inspiration and conviction I've ever read. It was written in 1938 and is just as relevant today as it was then.
9. Steering the Craft, by Ursula Le Guin. My thesis professor at Hollins uses this book to great effect in many of her creative writing classes. Having had several of those with her, I have been through the book and its exercises a couple of times. Highly recommended for self-teaching and as a reminder of things that we sometimes forget.
10. Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Another great inspirational book, also written long ago (1934) and still relevant today.
11. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. A classic cheerleader's book that offers advice about writing without preaching.
12. The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. Cameron's "morning pages" are a classic, and if you can do them (I can't), then you have a great start to your day. Every now and then I pull this out and try again, but I cannot get in the habit of doing three pages of free writing every morning. I hope you can, though.
13. On Becoming a Novelist, by John Gardner. Another book about the writing life and the kind of dedication it takes to become an author.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 226th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
1. The Chicago Manual of Style, current edition. This is a style guide, but it contains great information about important things like sentence structure, comma placement, and capitalization. For fun, check out the monthly answers to questions that people ask at the Style website. You will be amazed.
2. Guide to Fiction Writing, by Phyllis A. Whitney. Published in 1982, this is one of the best guides for writing genre fiction that I have ever read. Phyllis Whitney authored many award-winning books, mostly mysteries and "gothics." I read her work when I was growing up. This book, which covers everything from plot to characterization, appears to be out of print, but if you have an interest in learning how to create genre fiction, I urge you to seek out a copy.
3. Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, Roget's Desk Thesaurus, Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, The Random House Dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary. Yes, I have all of these reference books at my fingertips. What can I say? If you're a writer, you should have a couple of good dictionaries and a thesaurus or two at the ready.
4. Writer's Market, current edition, from Writer's Digest. I tend to buy these every other year instead of annually, because they can get expensive. They offer good advice on writing and on the writing business in articles that come before listings of places that might buy your work, though.
5. Writing the Natural Way, by Gabrielle Rico. This book advocates something called clustering, which is a way to make unusual connections, that I have used for 20 years to good effect.
6. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard. This is not a writing book, per se, but I find it inspirational in one way, and an example of what not to do in others. The book is filled with wonderful description, but I often get bogged down in the words. It's a good reminder to me to find that fine line between overwriting and explanation, and drawing in the reader. I urge every writer to find that special book that makes them think and helps them transition from reading to writing. This is that book for me. Dillard also has a book called The Writing Life that you might find more to your liking, if you want to read something by a Pulitzer Prize winner.
7. The Courage to Write, by Ralph Keyes. Many writers, myself included, suffer anxiety when they sit down. The fear? Is it good enough, what if it is good enough, what do I do with it, am I worthy? - it's a long litany that runs through the head. This book helps calm the jitters and offers up suggestions on ways to keep the blank page from becoming a monster in your dreams.
8. If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland. One of the best books for inspiration and conviction I've ever read. It was written in 1938 and is just as relevant today as it was then.
9. Steering the Craft, by Ursula Le Guin. My thesis professor at Hollins uses this book to great effect in many of her creative writing classes. Having had several of those with her, I have been through the book and its exercises a couple of times. Highly recommended for self-teaching and as a reminder of things that we sometimes forget.
10. Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Another great inspirational book, also written long ago (1934) and still relevant today.
11. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. A classic cheerleader's book that offers advice about writing without preaching.
12. The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. Cameron's "morning pages" are a classic, and if you can do them (I can't), then you have a great start to your day. Every now and then I pull this out and try again, but I cannot get in the habit of doing three pages of free writing every morning. I hope you can, though.
13. On Becoming a Novelist, by John Gardner. Another book about the writing life and the kind of dedication it takes to become an author.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 226th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
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