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Getting Back to the Writing
Cathy and I got back last night from the annual conference of the Associated Writing Programs, which explains the lateness of this post. Today, I’m back to work on this novel I’m trying to write. When I look at the last thing I wrote before leaving for the conference, I read this: He told us.…
Read MoreWhat Do Your Characters Love?
It amazes me to think I’ve been maintaining this blog for eighteen years. I resisted it so much at first, but my web designer convinced me it was important, and gradually I came to love it. I like to think it’s been helpful to more than a few of you. Still, there are times when…
Read MoreLet Them Talk: Dialogue in First Drafts
I’m working on the first draft of a new novel set in 1920 in my native southeastern Illinois. At that time, Prohibition created an opportunity for bootleggers which, of course, led to violence as most illegal operations tend to do. That’s only one part of the book I’m trying to write. The KKK was prominent…
Read MoreTimmy the Stray: A Character’s Return
We have a stray cat in our neighborhood, a big gray-and-white cat who shows up on our patio from time to time. He used to rely on a now-moved-away family for food and shelter. The kids in that family named the cat Timmy, and Timmy he’s been in what’s become their nearly year-long absence. Cathy…
Read MoreThe Past Comes Calling
This morning while passing a window, I saw an elderly couple walking up the driveway of our neighbors down the street. They were bundled up against the cold, and they had their heads bowed as they watched their slow and careful steps over the patches of ice that remained after this week’s snow. Their torsos…
Read MoreWhat Manual Work Taught Me about Writing
It’s eighteen degrees today in central Ohio, and nearly a foot of snow still covers the ground and the rooftops. Cathy and I get out from time to time to run errands or to enjoy a meal at a restaurant. For the most part, though, we’re content to hibernate. Cathy’s retired, and I’m on sabbatical…
Read MoreTo the Basement: New Place, New Perspective
Last week, Cathy and I had the interior walls of our house painted and new carpet put down. For me, it was a very stressful week. Not only did we have to box up all my books and any breakables we also had to take down all our wall hangings and find a place to…
Read MoreTips for Novelists
I’m starting to write a new novel, or should I say, what I hope will be a new novel. I’ve published eight of them, but it’s still scary to announce that I’m attempting another. Tip #1: It’s okay to be scared. It’s also okay to be excited about the work ahead of you. I won’t…
Read MoreSmile
After Cathy and I moved into our home almost nine years ago, I couldn’t find my junior high school yearbooks. I’d saved them since the late 1960s, and suddenly they were gone. I’d thought of them often after they’d disappeared, puzzled over where they might be. I assumed they must have been lost in the…
Read MoreAn Old Post for the New Year
Cathy and I spent New Year’s Eve and most of New Year’s Day in the hospital because I was having an episode of atrial fibrillation. I’m fine now, but instead of writing something new this week, I’ve decided to repost this slightly revised entry from six years ago: New Year, New Writing: Tips for…
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