Have you ever known a bonafide genius? Have you ever aspired to be one? I've been reading a book by Malcolm Gladwell—one of the most innovative writers I've ever come across. The book, What the Dog Saw, is a compilation of essays Gladwell wrote for the New Yorker. In one essay, he asks the question of whether prodigy is …
Tag: Writing
The fight of the murble-bee
Murble: a cross between garble and mumble. As in: "With the covers over her head, she spoke, but her words were murbled." It is not a mistake. It is a new word. It is the sound I heard and the word I wrote. I invented it. Kindle, however, thinks I'm wrong.* In fact, they keep sending …
The persistence of memory
I've spent the past few weeks going through diaries and scrapbooks that my mother left behind. They are humorous, compelling, revealing. I am getting to know her as a teenager, a college student, a young married woman — the person she was before I was born. In assembling her documents and those of dozens of …
A hoarder’s cluttered room …
Writing is a study in precision and nowhere is this more important than in the details that swarm around a good story. Details are like the last coats of paint on a new house, the finely sewn collar on a shirt or blouse, the delicate fondant icing on a wedding cake. They must be just right. …
How to outwit writer’s block …
Talk to any writer or read any number of writing blogs and you will likely find one universal fear: the dreaded phenomenon of writer's block — that moment when your brain goes blank and a great chasm opens up between your head and your fingers. Thankfully, I can say I never have writer's block. Never. …
Sisyphus at the summit …
While lunching last week with a fellow writer, I was explaining how starting any project fills me with unspeakable fear. When asked to take on a writing assignment, I generally say "yes." Based on my 30-plus years of experience, I should be able to handle just about any writing assignment. Operative word: should. But as …
How I learned not to procrastinate …
Once as a teenager, I was on a trip with my dad in Richmond, Virginia. I don't remember the circumstance, but I do remember the weather. It was raining so hard that people were escaping the deluge in the lobby of the John Marshall Hotel. Shaking his umbrella, a smiling gentleman said to me, "It's …
How the many layers …
For every author, there comes that swallow-hard and grit-your-teeth moment when you open a review of your work. Recently, I was in touch with a reader/reviewer from Ireland who reviewed CAIRNAERIE. Looking over his list of reviewed books, I noticed something that I really liked. His reading choices, like mine, are highly eclectic — and …
To write 1004 …
I am rarely lost for words to write, but this morning I am. Almost. I've hit a milestone, and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm also wary of tooting my own horn. No one likes braggarts, but here I am about to be one because I feel like I owe it to those who've read …
Letting down my cool …
A few years ago, I was eating dinner in Charlottesville, Virginia. We were celebrating a birthday at a very hoity-toity restaurant, the kind where you have to pretend you know French and where you'd better have extra cash stashed in your pocket. You know the kind. As I was ordering, out of the corner of …
