Writing about place, people, and whatever parts of the universe I'm lucky to see.
I've slowed down. I'm typing a few lines this morning, with vague direction. I've written little this last week--a few brief edits to a short story, an idle look at upcoming submissions windows. What do I have today that I can blog about? Perhaps only that very hitch in my routine: the slowing down, the... Continue Reading →
A week ago, just as I was finalizing last week's blog post, I received an email letting me know that a magazine wanted to publish a short piece I had submitted to them. Oh? They do? Oh! Oh my. My that feels good. It has taken me some time, some grief, and lots of effort.... Continue Reading →
Good things take time. Good writing is no exception. I tell my students that the best draft is almost always the next one, with more distance, more perspective, the images distill into something sharper. We're able to write closer to what we mean, or then, what we mean to say becomes clearer to ourselves. In... Continue Reading →
When we write, if we tape our feelings down to the page, if we do it with any thoroughness and honesty, they become rapidly an artifact. Later, we return to them like reading history. Those were the things in my mind that day. We can see the way seas of our thoughts change, and yet... Continue Reading →
How much I have written for this post and discarded. Feelings swell, crests of thought in one direction, then the next, another. I believe in nonviolence. I believe in taking the lead from people of color, whose experiences in these matters are the important ones to hear and to uplift. Ordinarily, these two beliefs I... Continue Reading →
I had a good reminder yesterday. The UWC network has been running a series of webinars these past few weeks from alumni, teachers, National Committee representatives, bringing the community together for discussions and presentations. It's been incredible, seeing the community come alive in this way--I've never felt so connected to the larger UWC network, one... Continue Reading →
It is hard for me to just not finish a book. I hem and haw, delay. I grudgingly slog another page. There are so many books I want to read, after all--why agonize, insist on finishing one I'm not enjoying? Is it the uncertainty of how to mark it on my Goodreads account, or something... Continue Reading →
An update Three days after my last post, it was announced the school would close. We are sending students home. Last week's heartbreak is compounded. On Wednesday, we celebrated an early Graduation for the second-years. Each day since then, our numbers have been whittling. There are some students who cannot go home. Borders open up... Continue Reading →
This post is part of the monthly Author Toolbox Blog Hop, in which writers post great resources and information relevant for other writers. Check out other #AuthorToolboxBlogHop posts here! And a caveat to the above: how useful will this post be to other writers? Perhaps not very. It's somewhat journal-heavy. It's somewhat bland. But if... Continue Reading →
There are few films (and I find it a bit ironic that it is the film we go to before the book here) more called upon for inspiring young writers than Dead Poets Society, in which charismatic literature teacher Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) leads a group of teenage boys to discover their personal voices. In... Continue Reading →
Jimmy Kindree 