Here’s another great piece of writing advice, this time from prolific and award-winning author Seanan McGuire. She gives us 50, yes, fifty thoughts on writing, some on the act of writing and some on being a writer. It’s a useful list. Let’s just say she had me at “You’re going to suck when you start.”
🙂
Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’
Attention
Posted in Writing, tagged connectivity, creativity, inspiration, linguistics, relationships, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
So I’m chatting with my mother and somehow the topic of her graduate work comes up. Next thing I know we’re discussing linguistics, theories of form, elegance as a measure of validity, and how it’s possible to learn a language in a weekend (if you’re awesome, like my mom).
Not that I needed it with her, but it was a great reminder that everyone is interesting, everyone is complex and multi-layered and experienced in some way. Given the press of time and the tyranny of labels, it can be too easy to let this drift to the background. Mother, neighbor, mail carrier, teacher, gas station attendant. They are these things, yes. And much more.
Liking a person has less to do with it than you might think. The man who throws a huge stack of newspaper advertising against my front door every week, where it lands with a loud bang? His limp tells me he may not just be doing it to be annoying.
Everyone has a story. It’s important not to forget it, especially if you are a writer.
Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.”
― Susan Sontag
Something Nice
Posted in Other, tagged good deeds, Thoughts, yay on September 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I did a good deed today. No need to get into specifics, but let’s just say that it involved a banking error of no inconsiderable size. I expect it will make several people’s lives easier and that felt good. And hey, doing for others is one key to happiness. I recommend it:)
Why Not?
Posted in Likes, tagged Danielle Steel, fun, inspiration, life, quotes, Thoughts, why not, Writers, yay on September 9, 2014| 1 Comment »
Life, a good life, a great life is about “Why not?” May we never forget it.
— Danielle Steel
Keys to the Universe
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged awesome, books, disaster preparedness, home, libraries, literature, NPR, public libraries, quotes, Thoughts, TS Eliot, Writers on August 20, 2014| 1 Comment »
The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.
― T.S. Eliot
I’ve just discovered a lovely series by NPR on libraries. It’s ongoing but there are already close to a dozen pieces on the role libraries play in society, how they are transforming to meet new needs (disaster preparedness, anyone?) and the challenges they face in this new century.
Also, I had no idea that not all states supported public libraries. Srsly?
Reality, Transformed
Posted in Writing, tagged artists, books, creativity, fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Lev Grossman, literature, NYT, sff, speculative fiction, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on August 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a nice piece by Lev Grossman in The New York Times on “Finding My Voice in Fantasy.”
We — as a whole, as a culture — seemed to be getting more interested in the kinds of questions fantasy deals with: questions about history, and about our connection to the natural world, and about power, how to find it in yourself, how to master it, what to do with it.
…
Fantasy is sometimes dismissed as childish, or escapist, but I take what I am doing very, very seriously. For me fantasy isn’t about escaping from reality, it’s about re-encountering the challenges of the real world, but externalized and transformed.
Make Mistakes
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #GaimanSays, artists, awesome, creativity, finishing, Motivation, neil gaiman, quotes, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on August 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »
If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something.
This is a terrific saying. Thanks to Epic Reads for the lovely image, and thanks to Neil Gaiman for saying it.
Dreaming of Curry
Posted in Food and..., tagged beef curry, cinnamon, cucumbers, dinner, food, home, inspiration, Tasmania, Thoughts, Vietnamese food on July 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Things learned while perusing Tasmanian recipes for the Vietnamese beef curry I will not be having for dinner (why must you torture me with your delicious culinary aromas, o neighbor who is also an excellent cook?)
- cassia quill == cinnamon stick
- telegraph cucumbers == English cucumbers
- punnet == basket as for berries (small? large? woven wood or pre-formed plastic? still so much to learn!)
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