It’s Giving Tuesday, a day to donate to good causes. Top of my list is supporting writers and readers. If this sounds self-serving, it’s because it is. Democracy & Literacy Democracy depends on a thoughtful, literate electorate. I’m deeply in favor of democracy, particularly one that protects freedom of speech. Lately, political speech has become … Continue reading Supporting Writers & Readers on Giving Tuesday
Hi Readers, Posting Writing & Hunting at Living in Place this morning reminded me of all the years I wrote about my writing life at Live to Write, Write to Live, so I’ve come over to say hello. I hope your writing lives are going well, that you are creating imaginary worlds with vivid words … Continue reading Writing & Hunting at Living in Place
A book can take you anywhere—a different place, time, planet, or reality. A book can transform you into someone else, dropping you into other people’s lives so that you see the world through their eyes, understand what makes them tick, and feel their hurts and their triumphs. In fact, studies have shown that the neurological … Continue reading Reading Outside Your Usual Cultural Space
Tonight, I’ll be giving an informal commencement address thanking the students who’ve participated in the memoir-writing class I’ve been teaching at the Moore Free Library for the past twelve weeks. This is what I’ll say: Thank you for your courage to show up and bleed onto the page. Thank you for trusting each other and … Continue reading Thanking My Students
Making time to read can be challenge. I rarely have the pleasure of long, uninterrupted hours of recreational reading. Usually, I’m able to sneak in a chapter here and there. More often than not, I’m consuming novels as audio books that I listen to while I’m driving, taking a shower, preparing dinner, or running the … Continue reading Penguin Random House – Season of Stories
I’ve taken a lot of online classes, but I’ve never taken one taught by Steve Martin. So, when I learned about the upcoming Steve Martin Teaches Comedy from Masterclass, I was understandably intrigued. It’s not that I’m itching to become a standup comic. I’m not. In fact, even just thinking about being on a stage and … Continue reading Take a Writing Class with Steve Martin
I write a lot of first person. That means that I use “I” a lot. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but because I’m so concerned about my story’s action getting out that I tend to forget to put sufficient background into my story. You know that old writer’s maxim = Show don’t tell? … Continue reading Including Background Scenery
I have two axes to grind: a two-and-a-quarter-pound Boy’s Ax, and a Fiskars 28” Splitting Ax. Tim gave me the Boy’s Ax for Christmas in 1984, my first winter in Vermont. I was living in a poorly insulated cabin smaller than my Manhattan apartment. I heated the cabin with a small, wood stove. The ax … Continue reading Axes to Grind
TELLING STORIES ON THE LONG TRAIL Hiking eleven hours a day is hard, but it was never boring, because my hiking buddy and I took turns telling stories. Jan and I met in college and have been living apart ever since: she in Alaska and me in Vermont. We’ve kept in touch with infrequent letters … Continue reading Telling Stories
Earlier this year, before I had come to terms with the reality that an onslaught of colliding project deadlines would render this The Summer That Wasn’t, I wrote a post encouraging you writers to Get Out! … to enjoy participating in the world as much as you enjoy observing, recording, and – in many cases – creating it. … Continue reading Writer’s Weekend Resources: Reading and Writing Links
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