It’s been 38 days since the COVID-19 pandemic became real for me. That was the day I started working from home, the day most businesses in Washington closed their doors, the day my knuckles started to crack from the sheer amount of handwashing I was doing, and the day that the numbers of the sickContinue reading “C’est la pandémie”
Tag Archives: creativity
The Making of a New Short Film: “As Seen On TV”
There was a time in my life where I could call up a couple of friends with a wild idea, grab my handheld camcorder and make a short film in an evening or a weekend. It was a freewheeling, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants style of filmmaking that prioritized creative freedom over everything else — including scripts, plot, lighting,Continue reading “The Making of a New Short Film: “As Seen On TV””
Wired for Story
I don’t know about you, but I’m always writing stories in my head. A snippet of interesting conversation, an observation on the street, a song on the radio — my brain will wheel off on a creative tangent. I hear dialogue in restaurants. I imagine plot twists on my drive to and from the office.Continue reading “Wired for Story”
The Magic of Deadlines
I have heard rumors in my travels of creative people who are entirely self-motivated. They get up early, awakened by an innate drive to create, go to their computers, ignore Facebook and Google, and complete their work in a timely manner with no exterior motivator. I am not one of those people. I’m not evenContinue reading “The Magic of Deadlines”
My Solo Writing Retreat to the Island of Inspiration
It was a dark winter’s night when I drove onto the ferry from Point Defiance to Tahlequah. I was off to nearby Vashon Island for a day-and-a-half solo writing retreat to start my novel. On the short trip from Tacoma to Vashon, I tried not to think too much about the enormous task I wasContinue reading “My Solo Writing Retreat to the Island of Inspiration”
An Exercise In Words
I am sore. I’ve been working out on a regular basis for the first time since my little league soccer days and it hurts. Muscles hurt that I didn’t even know I had. Everything aches, but that is the price of growing healthier and stronger. This weekend, I also devoted several hours to writing. IContinue reading “An Exercise In Words”
Missing Moleskine
Break out the hound dogs and round of the search party — my Moleskine notebook is missing. This is not a drill; this is a full-scale, four-alarm emergency. Alert the president that we are at DEFCON-2. It’s that serious. If you don’t already know, I love my Moleskine. Sure, it’s a small stack of paperContinue reading “Missing Moleskine”
Our Response to Attacks On Free Expression
Last week, my heart sank when I heard on my drive to work that several staff of the satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo had been killed in a brutal attack in Paris. Journalists and cartoonists — artists like me — had been silenced for their work. The sad news came just weeks after a satiricalContinue reading “Our Response to Attacks On Free Expression”
Supporting My Writing Habit
This week, I read a very interesting roundtable article by Liz Entman Harper on The Morning News. In it, seven published writers talk about how they continue writing while still having a full-time, 9-to-5 job. This is a question that has plagued me since I started working: How can I follow my dreams of beingContinue reading “Supporting My Writing Habit”
Base Camp
I hit a milestone today. This morning, while pounding out the novel I’m writing for National Novel Writing Month, my word count surpassed 15,700 words. In terms of writing 50,000 words in 30 days, I’m tracking way behind where I should be. But this point is an auspicious one for me. In four years ofContinue reading “Base Camp”
