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On Completing a First Draft
I haven’t written about writing in a while. I’ve been working on a novel since approximately the dawn of written language. Almost three years ago, I wrote about breaking through a block (“The Insecurities of Being a Writer”). Last fall, I waxed enthusiastically in “Writing Is like a Fungus” about the guidebooks I used to […]
Winter Notes
In the evening when it’s dark and the stars shine bright, I like to stand by an open window and listen and breathe and look into the night. Winter air can be odorless. Or a pocket of scent might startle me, usually when walking through the woods. It could be the mild skunk-like musk of […]
Passing the Torch: How to fix the climate and everything else at the same time
Dare I say it, but I don’t think we’d be where we are without Trump. Without him, the #MeToo movement wouldn’t have taken off. As a candidate, he boasted of abusing women. Without him, climate change wouldn’t have mainstream media coverage. He pulled us out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Two devastating climate reports would […]
Power Lines
The hills line up to the horizon like a blanket kicked to the bottom of the bed. This isn’t the Himalayas, where continents crashed into each other, shoving rock five and a half miles into the sky. This is the result of an ice age pushing around the land thousands of years ago. The effect […]
Zen and the Art of Handling Setbacks
Writing a novel is a lot like building a porch. I’m not talking about planning and prep work and how conceiving and completing any project has similar steps and cautions. This is no Zen and the Art of Novel Writing (or Porch Building). This is about setbacks. It began so simply. A three-walled, roofed but […]
What Next? I Mean for the Planet, not Politics
I’m writing this a few days after the midterm elections. Not all the results are in, but what a ride, eh? I find I have plenty to say, but my thoughts are a bit jumbled, so bear with me. Despite the midterm results (mixed, at best), my attention has been grabbed by a book I […]
Laughter Lights the Way
As a way to avoid news about the Orange Oracle of Obfuscation in the White House, I’ve been watching reruns of Ellen. The sitcom, not the talk show. This is a 20-year-old show that makes me laugh out loud every morning. April will be the 20th anniversary of Ellen DeGeneres’s coming out on the cover […]
Bookstore Haze
To celebrate the release of Finding Ms. Write, the new anthology out from Ylva, I’m taking part in a “blog tour” and giveaway (check below for how to win a copy!). For my part, I thought I’d reminisce a bit. My second job after college was in a bookstore. The first was a pet store, […]
What’s the Story About?
In a writing workshop with the wonderful Ted Gup, he told us every story should ask two questions: What is the story about? and What is the story about? That may seem too Zen to be practical. But think about it. It’s true everywhere you look. To Kill a Mockingbird is about how Scout’s brother […]
The Things We Leave Behind
One thing I’ll say for this snowy winter—it’s been good for tracking. After a fresh snow, I thrill to see the first prints. Bird, cat, maybe a fox, a wing impression, blood spatters. The wandering track of something clearly not a squirrel crisscrosses my yard. Cat? Fox? The snow is too deep to tell. Squirrel […]
Elaine Burnes 