Just Finish

The most wise words you’ll hear as a writer are “Just finish.” Those two words pack a big punch for passionate creators with a million ideas. It’s hard to start. It’s hard to keep going with all the different ways people tell you to stop. And it’s hard to finish. It’s all hard. Writing isContinue reading “Just Finish”

God-given Talent

“I have spent a good many years since–too many, I think–being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paintContinue reading “God-given Talent”

Writing and the Freedom it Comes With

“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it” – Roald Dahl Well isn’t that an intriguing offer. Write, be free. Be your own master. I think this romanticizes writing aContinue reading “Writing and the Freedom it Comes With”

Return to Me

“For it would seem – her case proved it – that we write, not with the fingers, but with the whole person. The nerve which controls the pen winds itself about every fiber of our being, threads the heart, pierces the liver.” – Virginia Woolf I love me some writers who bare their bones! IContinue reading “Return to Me”

Value Your Craft

“If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.” ― George Orwell When you see a problem deeply rooted in a broken system that’s been handed down from generation to generation, your writing can be the one reason someone breaks free. YourContinue reading “Value Your Craft”

You Must Be an Artist

“An artist is someone who can hold two opposing viewpoints and still remain fully functional.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald I don’t find artists to be more or less human than anyone else who answers the call, but I do appreciate this quote. As a writer, it’s required for me to shift to and fro fromContinue reading “You Must Be an Artist”

Now I’m Ready.

I did it. I wrote. I finished short stories. I wrote poetic prose. Some shitty stuff. Some stuff I’m proud of. I got paid for my writing. I finished a novel. I was included in an anthology. I sat in writers workshops with IV leaguers and successful authors. I took a dozen college courses. IContinue reading “Now I’m Ready.”

My Novel is Experimental Fiction

There’s a misunderstanding of what experimental fiction really is. Experimental fiction is often confused with Sci-Fi. That is not what it is. Experimental fiction is playing with traditional writing styles and formats. It’s using innovation and creativity to push against the boundaries of traditional storytelling. There are so many ways we learn and absorb theContinue reading “My Novel is Experimental Fiction”