on writing – Jayne.press

You Should Understand

As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand. Ernest Hemingway As a writer, it is my job to understand humans as they are. If I place even one person under a microscope, I lose the context of their entire being. I remove them from their experiences, their feelings, their dreams, and place themContinue reading “You Should Understand”

Overloaded Critic?

Tonight I’m drinking tea and reading my novel out loud to myself. I like it when I can just focus on reading and let the critical part of my mind have a break because it can get overloaded. That’s when it begins to feel like nothing in my book is right. Sometimes it even getsContinue reading “Overloaded Critic?”

Show, Don’t Tell

We hear it all the time as writers. For those who are reading this post that aren’t writers, let me explain. Show, don’t tell is when you’re writing a about a character, instead of telling us things about the character like “He was mad,” you’d say something to the affect of “He swiftly picked upContinue reading “Show, Don’t Tell”

Artistic Research

Today I listened to an interesting lecture by Adrian Piper titled What, exactly, is the Idea of Artistic Research? She brought up a lot of interesting points. one point that I found interesting was how classes can be so rigid it doesn’t allow artists to truly dig into their art in the same way greatContinue reading “Artistic Research”

Creative Fire

I love the way creatives look when they’re fully immersed in their work. Creative exploration is full of fun and games, at the same time it gets us out of bed in the middle of the night and in the morning. It’s love, the relationship we creatives have with our work. Just like marriage, creativeContinue reading “Creative Fire”

Let It Drip

Step into a scene and let it drip from your fingertips. MJ Bush If there was a way to describe one of the most amazing feelings of the writers life, this would be it, (for me). I wrote a blog post titled “‘Come Upon’ the Right Word” that spoke on divine inspiration. This quote remindsContinue reading “Let It Drip”

“Come Upon” the Right Word

For your born writer, nothing is so healing as the realization that he has come upon the right word. Catherine Drinker Bowen I’m working on a part of my book and I’m feeling like I can’t find the right words to express the story in a way that I want. What do I want? SomethingContinue reading ““Come Upon” the Right Word”

Fetishizing Masterpieces

Know your literary tradition, savor it, steal from it, but when you sit down to write, forget about worshiping greatness and fetishizing masterpieces. Allegra Goodman What a great way to take the pressure off. I try my best not to let the greats dictate my writing choices but there are many times I get soContinue reading “Fetishizing Masterpieces”

Bearing an Untold Story

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou I was a quiet kid. I felt like I couldn’t get what I was really thinking and feeling out of my mouth. School was scary but I wanted to be there. I was sensitive. I was quiet. But I wanted toContinue reading “Bearing an Untold Story”