Recently, I read this Writer Unboxed piece by Julianna Baggott that asks, “Is writer’s block a form of self-protection?” I’m always intrigued by theories that writer’s block is something other than laziness (because that’s what the mean “YOU MUST WRITE” voice in my head tells me it is). Baggott suggests that writer’s block isn’t “failure.” — Read More
Tag: writer unboxed
Writing in the age of distraction
I was hanging out with my nephews the other day (they are ages 4 and 6), and they navigated their way to Amazon.com on their iPad to show me which Legos they want. They were clicking around, zooming in and out, tapping the shopping cart. I feel like an old person saying this, but it’s crazy — Read More
Why stories matter: Practicing empathy with fiction
I worry that people think dust has settled after the election. It shouldn’t settle. There is so much that is (and should be) very unsettled. Regardless of your political opinions, the election was a 9.0 on the Richter Scale. It shook us. We realized we are not as united as we thought. People we assumed were on — Read More
On persistence
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about how we only get about 10% of any one person’s story. We see only the parts they are willing to share–the happy parts, mostly. We shield others from our heartaches. If we do share, we share a small sliver. For example: On Facebook, which I consider an exaggerated — Read More