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The Path to Publication, part 7: Brewing questions
What is it ABOUT? It’s been almost exactly a year since my graduate thesis and creative project was approved by my advisors. It has had time to mellow. Or ferment? Was I afraid it had fermented so much...
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A Path to Publication, part 8: When the Censors come a-knocking
You can invite them in for a moment, but then shoo them out saying: Thank You. Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out. Today is not a good day as far as my book goes. Last week I finished one step...
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A Path to Publication: part 9: When life gives you lemons and you have no sugar
Ah, the writing life. You hear it all the time: it’s damn hard. There are cartoons and quotes all over the place about problems with which writers are well acquainted: procrastination, self-doubt,...
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A Path to Publication, pt 10: Kicking open the creaking door
credit: Joanna Tebbs Young At this past Saturday’s conference of the League of Vermont Writers, keynoter David Dobbs encouraged us to kick open every door that creaks. This metaphor has been a...
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A Path to Publication, part 11: Yeah, what IS your book about?
For the past week I have been frantically editing my manuscript, molding it word by sentence by paragraph into a shape that looks remotely like something the agent who requested it will like. Of...
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A Path to Publication, part 12: When the silence descends
Silence. My yearning for it is as strong as my need for sleep. At least eight hours of sleep and almost as much silence. Otherwise, don’t expect too much from me. Today I have silence. For an entire...
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Writing Practice: The roles my journal plays
(I originally wrote this post, with the title, “Writing Practice: How I learned to use my words,” for the Transformative Language Arts blog’s series highlighting TLA practices.) Writing is my life. Day...
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On a mission (statement)
Recently I met with a career coach. My intention was to see how my (rather unorthodox) skills and experience might translate into the “real” world and a “real” job. Well, you know that saying,...
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Stop striving. Start listening.
This is a follow-up to this post: On a mission (statement) credit: Joanna Tebbs Young I’ve written of Serendipity and Synchronicity before. There have been many examples of it in my life, such as the...
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A Path to Publication, pt 13: How self-absorbed are you?!
To bring about a paradigm shift in the culture that will change assumptions and attitudes, a critical number of us have to tell the stories of our personal revelations and transformations. Jean...
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A Path to Publication, pt 15: An editor is your friend
I try to shake loose my mind, so something fresh can fall out… This process acts like a sifter—sand falls through and bright nuggets come to light. –Natalie Goldberg, Thunder and Lightning In my last...
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It’s spontaneous, baby!: Writing that changes you
When someone asks me what I do I often have a hard time saying what that is. Well, that’s not exactly true — I can tell you aaaall about it if you’re ready to settle in for a chat. My work, the type of...
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So you want to be a TLA (writing for healing/change) facilitator?
This evening I was asked by one of my online students how to start a TLA (Transformative Language Arts) — Writing for Change or Healing — practice/business. That is a big question and not one easily...
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Envisioning a Write New Year
This post is an edited version of the first posting of my newest column in the Rutland Herald called “All Write!” which ran January 2, 2016. Writing isn’t only my career (something for which I am...
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Path to Publication, pt 16: It’s happening!
Wow, it’s been a looooong time since I last wrote, especially on this publication series. And here’s one of the reasons why: I’m about to get published! Quick background: Over 18 months ago I was hired...
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I’m not here to teach you anything: Some thoughts on facilitating
I originally wrote this post in 2014 for the blog of tlanetwork.org, the website of the Transformative Language Arts Network. It seems appropriate to re-post as I am preparing a graduate course on...
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Path to Publication, pt 17: It’s happening! (pt2). Subtitle: ARGH, the Critic!
Good grief. Nine months ago I wrote a post in celebration of the fact that the first draft of the book manuscript was imminent and that layout was finished, meaning in just a few months more the book —...
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Path to Publication, pt 18: Book Launch!
This photo of Lilian Baker Carlisle, the subject of my book, from 1970 when she published her first book, has been a source of inspiration for me over the last two years. I envisioned creating this...
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One cold, dark, beautiful morning…
I wrote this post almost nine years ago, in November 2009. My life looks very different now — I no longer need to lay out my children’s clothes, for one thing, thank goodness! — but the main message,...
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