1. Adverbs. We writers all love them. I know. And they love us. They’re just so easy. You don’t have to show a character being sad in her face or actions. You just put she said sadly. Done. Besides being easy and lazy, adverbs are also great when we’re feeling insecure. Maybe we did go to…
1. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It’s just the best. 2. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. You know how sometimes when you want to clean out your house you read a book on cleaning. It’s not that you need that particular method; you just need a book to inspire you to clean,…
A lot of people hate revisions. I kind of like them (unless I want to kill them)–there’s something so formative about taking my messy mass of manuscript and scraping and trimming and tidying it up into something manageable, readable, and–if I’m lucky–beautiful. However, I’ve always been an obedient person. And sometimes I’m too good of…
Recently my sister-in-law (a photographer) recommended the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert to me. I wasn’t sure I’d like it, and the truth is that parts of it are a bit hokey, but overall it was a fantastic (and quick) read for an artist. Interestingly, I’d just written this draft before I read Gilbert’s…