“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” – E. L. Doctorow Writing a novel is like this. Writing a poem is more like feeling your way through your house in the dark before your eyesContinue reading “Trust Your Gut”
Category Archives: on writing
Grammar Trick
“Writing is an act of faith, not a grammar trick.” -E. B. White There’s plenty of opinions about writing. There are supportive opinions, there are judgmental opinions, and there are just plain old unbiased opinions. I don’t think much of that matters. This quote from E. B. White says it all: it’s an act ofContinue reading “Grammar Trick”
Explorers
“The writer is an explorer. Every step is an advance into a new land.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson I don’t know what I’m doing or if I’m doing it right, but I know for sure I’m doing this. I have explored, and what’s wild is I haven’t even come close to being finished exploring. I’m soContinue reading “Explorers”
Feeling My Way
“I try not to think too much about my writing process – I tend to feel my way forward and find more insights that way.” -Nick Petrie Here’s a good quote. This one encourages me. I’m laughing at myself because some of these quotes will really have me spiraling for no reason. I have definitelyContinue reading “Feeling My Way”
The Writing Process
“My writing process is chaos. I usually start with an overarching theme. Then I establish several story threads, but I don’t outline. I just start writing and keep notes for what may come. It’s an organic process that’s usually pretty flexible.” -Lisa Lutz I have never related more to a writing process, but I don’tContinue reading “The Writing Process”
A Pile of Words
“Before I start a project, I always ask myself the following question. Why is this book worth a year of my life? There needs to be something about the theme, the technique, or the research that makes the time spent on it worthwhile.” – David Morrell This quote makes me want to cry immediately afterContinue reading “A Pile of Words”
Painting
“The modern artist… is working and expressing an inner world – in other words – expressing the energy, the motion, and other inner forces.” -Jackson Pollock I’ve spent years trying to figure out how to express the complexities of being human. It isn’t easy. I hope that the collection of thoughts I’ve shared throughout theContinue reading “Painting”
This World
“This world is but a canvas to our imagination.” -Henry David Thoreau I love art. I love creating. But I love learning the rules. I love seeing how other people create and use techniques to their own advantage. We get to apply all that to our lives. We aren’t stuck. We can be diverse andContinue reading “This World”
Jayne.Press: A Place Where You Can Be Human
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. The mind that responds to the intellectual and spiritual values that lie hidden in a poem, a painting, or a piece of music, discovers a spiritual vitality that lifts it above itself, takes it out of itself, and makes it present toContinue reading “Jayne.Press: A Place Where You Can Be Human”
Happy International Women’s Day
Sylvia Plath I wish you were still here. “The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.” – Anais Nin “A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way.”Continue reading “Happy International Women’s Day”
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