A BIG GROUP GROPE. It’s the image that popped into my head after a friend wrote seeking some writing advice. A thoroughly politically incorrect term, of course, as well as dated, the grope provides an even more disturbing image, I guess. Which is why I love it. [Read more...]
Come Join Me on Advice to Writers
March 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
IT WAS AN HONOR to be interviewed by Jon Winokur for his fine site, AdvicetoWriters.com. Somehow he got me to admit to my great belief in reading equal parts Emily Dickinson and Mad Magazine as a child, and to the role those two great influences have on my writing. Not sure how he did that. Come see. And enjoy.
Your New Best Friend:
The Deadline Calendar
GO ON, TRY my interactive calendar of emotional high holy days, regular-version high holy days and more. Hover your cursor over a cinnamon-colored date to see what pops up. Use it to start personal essays, radio pieces and op-eds to submit on deadline. How? Look three months out for radio ideas; six to twelve for magazine pieces. Pick it, write it, submit it. You’re a writer. That’s what writers do.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Apr | Jun » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5May, 5 2013Cinco de MayoIt is Cinco de Mayo, commemorating the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces in 1862. This is a great one for everything from a memoir about someone else’s cultural holidays, some food memoir perhaps, or a piece of memoir placed at celebration for the day. |
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| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12May, 12 2013Hurricanes Finally Get Named for Men, As WellIt was on this day in 1978 that hurricanes also were named for men. Previously named only for women, this seems like justice, however late. What’s in a name? My sister has something to say about that, named as she is, for a racehorse. I told this story on NPR’s All Things Considered. Have a look. |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23May, 23 2013The Father of Taxomony is BornOn this day in 1707 was the birth of Carl Linneaus, the man who created order out of chaos by creating a classification system for naming and identifying plants. I created one of those, though mine divides by people, asking if you are either a burger or a burrito. Check it out. | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
Creative Inspiration: Using Reference Books When Writing Memoir
January 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The reference books in my office are my constant companions.
I TRY TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW every day. It’s not a new idea, I know, nor is it unique to me. It’s an adage I see on t-shirts, hear from others and read pretty much everywhere. In this case, at least, familiarity has not bred the least contempt. [Read more...]
Creative Inspiration: Using an Almanac.
January 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
DURING THIS WEEK in 1610, Galileo began what is probably the most significant contribution he made to science. He began observing the moons of Jupiter through a homemade telescope, originally thinking he was looking at three stars near Jupiter, strung out in a line through the planet. [Read more...]
Creative Inspiration: Using Reliable Sources.
January 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
IT’S JANUARY AND I AM PINING for a good old blizzard. Why? Because I love them and the snow shoeing that follows. But all this longing got me wondering when is it, in fact, a blizzard, and when is it merely a large snowstorm? What’s the difference? [Read more...]
