Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Keep Doing the Good Work
I write this on a very overcast, raw day here in central Ohio. We’re coming to the end of the Autumn Semester at Ohio State, and I’m thinking of what it takes to keep going when we’re writers. After all, there are so many valid reasons to stop. I fear the students in my literary…
Read MoreEncouragement for the New Year
As we turn the page to a new year, I find myself thinking back to March 2, 2011, the date of my first post on this blog. At the time, my new novel, Break the Skin, was three months from its publication date, I was about to teach a graduate seminar in forms of creative…
Read MoreThe Long Haul
Last week, while I was in my native southeastern Illinois, I ran at the high school track. One morning as I was running, a grounds person was mowing grass. I’d just finished my run and left the track for my stretches and cool-down, when the man on the mower stopped and asked me how far…
Read MoreWe Are Writers
Here at the start of a new year, I’m thinking of how much 2020 asked of us, not only in our day-to-day lives but in our writing lives as well. As I’ve said in other places, some of us have struggled to write and some of us have immersed ourselves in our writing either as…
Read MorePatience and Detours: Writing and Living in a Time of Pandemic
As we enter the heart of summer, I can tell that folks are coming down with quarantine fatigue. Patience is wearing thin, and people are antsy. Now isn’t the time to let down our guard. My wife Cathy, the Risk Management/Corporate Compliance Director at a small hospital shared a reminder yesterday on Facebook, encouraging people…
Read MoreWriting in This Time of Pandemic
One summer evening, not too long ago, our up-the-street neighbor was playing catch with his son while Cathy and I were out in our yard. At one point, a throw got away from them, and the ball came skittering down the street toward me. I chased it down and got ready to throw it back…
Read MoreOne Fine Morning: Rededicating Ourselves to the Craft
I hope by now you’ve turned back your clocks an hour and enjoyed your extra sleep. Here in central Ohio, it’s a beautiful sunny day—a little on the cool side, but, hey, it’s November. Let’s enjoy the sun and not think about the fact that it’ll set at 5:27 pm. Yes, we’re making our final…
Read MoreA Day in the Life of a Writer Who Also Teaches
For those of us who write novels, at least from my perspective, it’s important to live in the world of the novel with some degree of consistency while the writing is underway. Leaving the writing for stretches of time makes it hard to sustain the momentum that writing long form narratives requires. When you teach,…
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