I’m Not Sure

A few weeks ago, I gave a friend a ride home from our writers' group. Three of us had met and shared our writing and talked about experiences and processes, joys and challenges. One of the challenges we talked about was how it was difficult sometimes to just sit down and write, to move forward … Continue reading I’m Not Sure →

The Second Novel

I was never sure I would write a second novel and rarely thought about it while I was working on the first. For a long time, years, I wasn't sure I was writing the first one. Most of the time I knew I was writing something, but not until the story grew and developed and … Continue reading The Second Novel →

Where I Write

I am always curious to hear about where other writers write and I often come across writers who need a blank wall in front of them, a place that blocks out every bit of this world so they can concentrate only on their story. No windows, no anything. Annie Dillard says in The Writing Life, … Continue reading Where I Write →

Just Write

I saw one of my former middle school students last summer. She was working as a hostess at a restaurant while pursuing her degree at Middlesex Community College. We talked for a few minutes and she told me she thinks of me every time she sits down to write a paper for school. "Even if … Continue reading Just Write →

I’m Not Lost

Sometimes I feel so lost I can't take one more step. I am somewhere in the new story. I realized yesterday I am losing my characters, which tells me I have written something not true, so not true that the people whose stories I am supposed to tell are turning their backs on me, and … Continue reading I’m Not Lost →