In this pandemic we are gripped by the vast and the invisible and the chaotic. We feel the largeness that makes us feel small, our days confined to repetitions. What does this kind of existence do to our writing life? If we don’t feel expanded into life’s excitement and adventure, if we feel tamped down and circumscribed, how can our creativity flourish? We can easily feel worn down and uninspired, so where can we find our spark or even the flicker of invention to lure us into our writing? If we wait, we could be sitting for a long time, becoming more convinced that no words are ever going to appear. So don’t wait. Don’t look for the muse. Practice recognition instead. Life is always happening, it will always show up. It, accompanied by its images, sounds, smells, questions and rhythms, surround us and wash over us every second. Set aside the insistence that creativity comes in dollops and splashes; let it make itself known in soft currents and flickers. Write about what is before you: this untied shoe, electric bill, yowling leaf blower, mounded sour cream. Write about the trip to the store, the back steps, the phone conversation, the sorted out drawer. All of these are prompts. All of these and more will continue to hold direct and indirect meaning. Strange things are happening too. Let the strange and unexpected take you by the hand and lead you to someplace new. Writing and life are like that if you let them come to you like someone you haven’t met but might like to get to know. This weekend I waited for eight hours in my car while my cat was tended to at an emergency veterinary hospital. COVID-19 lurked in the air, so no one but staff could enter the building. I watched human beings wait patiently for a whole day in their cars, as nurses and technicians came to each car, did intake interviews then led beloved animals into the building. I saw dogs in casts, in cones, trembling and scared. I heard cats calling out and pressing noses to carriers. I saw people pacing, reading, sleeping, scrolling, working, talking, crying and grinning. A blonde woman from Vermont had three small kids and a beagle puppy. How many hours had she driven to find help? A nurse, came out of the building with a clipboard, looked at the thickening clouds, shrugged and plunged forward to find the right car, the right animal. When the hail started, she stayed at the car window asking the necessary questions and listening for accurate information. There was just about a full moon when my cat and I drove home. I had witnessed people in love, waiting. That’s what we write about right now. How we do what we do, the same and differently because of this moment. We practice our craft by letting today fill us up and then reliving it on our page.
Upcoming Events
Maud & Addie Are Here!
Release Date: May 6, 2021: Maud & Addie, a middle-grade novel. In 1910, sisters, Addie and Maud Campbell are swept out to sea off the coast of Nova Scotia. With a half-filled picnic hamper, a carriage blanket and their wits, they survive the North Atlantic and landfall on a deserted island. As castaways, they become scavengers and inventors, facing the truth of who will save them and who they might have become.
Available for pre-release purchase:
iPg Independent Publishers Group https://www.ipgbook.com/maud—addie-products-9781646030606.php?page_id=21
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Online Weekly Workshops:
Monday Evenings, 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., eight weeks beginning November 9, 2020, ending January 18, 2021. https://www.writingfulltilt.com/online-workshop/ $320
Tuesday Mornings, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., eight weeks beginning November 10, 2020, ending January 19, 2021. https://www.writingfulltilt.com/online-workshop/ $360
Friday Mornings, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., ten weeks beginning December 4, 2020, ending February 19, 2021. https://www.writingfulltilt.com/workshops/ $450
Prompt Photo
