The Writing Life

Do you Know?

April 20, 2013

Members of our workshop have been so busy with our separate lives that we found a new way to stay connected until we can meet in person again. We take turns assigning writing prompts and then send our work via email. After, members respond with comments or critique by email back. Here’s an example of a prompt I sent [...]

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Need A Pen?

September 5, 2012

What a deal at the discount store, a package of 10 pens for 99 cents. Back at home I divvied them up all over the house. There would be no more rooting through desk drawers, flipping pillows on the couch, scrounging from friends, and that search of my son’s room was scary—dirty laundry, dishes, and [...]

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A Writer Wonders About Her Audience

July 12, 2012
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A writer always wonders: Who will want to read what I’m writing? Not knowing can be torturous. You start on an amazing adrenaline high, and later that nasty voice comes in saying, Nobody’s gonna want to read this drivel. And then the doubt creeps in. We start thinking about the audience and the people we [...]

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Formatting for Publication

June 25, 2012
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Imagine you’re going to a job interview. You care about the impression you’ll make, so you dress thoughtfully, according to the needs of the job. If you’re a man and the job is professional in nature, you probably wear a suit, shirt, and tie. You may pay special attention to your shoes, cleaning and shining [...]

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Poems, Short Stories, What Comes Next?

May 25, 2012
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I started out writing poetry, and although I feel it is my strongest genre there are times my poems don’t say enough. Poems are like the sharpened tips of pencils, a focus point of an idea. Some hint at stories I want to tell, but long poems don’t suit me. If I tell a story [...]

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The Stories in My Head

May 4, 2012

When I was a girl, I used to look around and tell stories in my head about what I saw.  When I discovered the art of transcribing it, the life inside me connected with the world around me. Writing wasn’t something I chose to try; rather, it became something I was compelled to do.  First [...]

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The Art of Memoir: Plotting Life

March 16, 2012

Fiction writers know that plot and character drive their stories. Well developed characters and interesting plots, with twists and turns and subplots, engage readers. How do I, a memoir writer, compete with the imaginary worlds of fiction? Certainly, life provides bizarre and interesting characters. But it doesn’t give me a nice, tidy plot, a story [...]

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Inspiration: It’s All Around Us

February 21, 2012

Inspiration is all around us. It comes to me through my senses—seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling, it is what moves me to pick up a pen. Inspiration sends goose-bumps up my arms or chills down my spine. It is a fleeting thing and I have to take notice before it is gone. For example: [...]

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Write for Love

October 14, 2011

When I first started writing I didn’t think about money or publication. I wanted to put the stories I told my children on paper and maybe save them in their baby books for their own children to enjoy. Cal State Northridge offered a course on children’s writing and illustrating, so I signed up. Most of [...]

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For Love or Money: Considering the Future of Writing

October 6, 2011

Considering the question of whether to write for free or not, I have to admit that the future of writing, as a career path, looks pretty grim. The publishing industry has always been a low margin affair, with only the best selling authors and in-demand freelancers making a living from their craft.  Journalists and editors [...]

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