Since spring is almost here, I’m offering “Writing through the year – Winter” as a free gift till March 21. Let me know if you’d like a copy – I’ll send you a SW coupon or the mobi file for your kindle.

Here’s what it’s about: (more…)

Winter – Volume 1 is available now for your Kindle !

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WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

 As I was conversing with a WriteSpa client, and we were discussing assignments and goals, I asked her where she wrote. She hesitated, then said, “It’s a bit problematic…I don’t have a laptop and my computer’s in the living room. I don’t really have a place for it.”

From the way she spoke, I could tell that using “the computer” was for her a chore, a bit of a nuisance, something that she ‘should’ turn on and use, like a vacuum cleaner, perhaps. I knew that for her to have a satisfying relationship with Mr. Write, the ambience surrounding the area where she worked was crucial. (more…)

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

February 2 is a turning point. The new moon falls halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox.  In Celtic history this festival was known as Imbolc; the Christians changed it to Candlemas, and the Irish celebrate it as St. Brigid’s Day. Imbolc signifies pregnancy and spring, and is honored with fire, foretelling, and remembering through storytelling. The day is also used to assess what the weather is going to be like in the coming weeks till spring.

This year, the new moon is also the first day of the 4708^th Chinese New Year. This is going to be the Year of the Golden Rabbit. Why golden? It’s not actually golden, but metal. There are twelve Chinese year animal signs, but there are also five elements that each of these animals circle through (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). Each animal goes through an annual cycle of these five elements, in two forms – one yin and one yang. This means that a complete cycle is sixty years – and the last one we encountered was in 1951. (more…)

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

Although Thanksgiving appears to be a uniquely American holiday, the mood now all over the world feels hectic, festive, familyish, planning ahead to the end of the year – and it sometimes can feel dark. Very few holidays are not based in some way on seasonal or pagan rituals – whether they are secular, as is Thanksgiving, or religious. In northern climates (in days long ago), this might be the last time you could see families and friends till spring. In agricultural civilizations, it’s the celebration of the end of harvest. It’s okay to feast now; by February there may be very little left. Nowadays we don’t have that worry; instead the anxiety has crept inwards, and emerges as family-related issues: passionate reunions, guilt, or nostalgia. This time of year can be fraught with tension, excitement, friendliness, food, warmth, light, depression, and so on. (more…)

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

Your sense of smell is possibly the oldest of the five primary senses, and, fascinatingly, it is most intimately associated with the formation of memories. In those old days (a million years ago), it was crucial to forming our experience of food and sex; but by now it’s evolved to an art of perfumes and fragrances. (more…)

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

Last week you listened, you eavesdropped – you were surprised by nuance, misunderstanding, flow, pitch, tone… Now it’s time to write purposeful dialog. By ‘purposeful’ I mean dialog that

• illuminates characters
• moves the story along
• and is fun (or harrowing) to read.

How?
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WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

We talk most of the time – except for when we’re not. The gift of language is part of our existence. We communicate with words far more often and easily than we do through writing or even through an expression like a glare or a smile. And yet much of the time, in conversation as in life, things are not what they seem. Words don’t necessarily mean what you think they do, or what they mean when you’re writing narrative prose. That’s because in dialog the words themselves are colored by the people who are using them. (more…)

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

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Writing Practice -  Writing for the Ages

Everyone has an interior age, which they fundamentally ‘are’ not matter what their biological age. What’s yours? One way to discover it is by working with this writing practice: Writing for the Ages.