Writing and the Arts

A collection of 28 posts

Writing and the Arts

New poem: "One day's worth of simple pleasures"

There's a new poem on the site. It came to me in a flash while doing morning pages. Enjoy!

Writing and the Arts

A lost-and-found poem

I was going through some very old posts on a former site, and found a poem about Stephen Colbert and George Bush at the WH Correspondent's Dinner. Enjoy!

Writing and the Arts

Morning Pages to the rescue – again

Now that I had the time to write, I discovered I had nothing to say. Then I remembered: morning pages.

Writing and the Arts

Timothy Snyder: The "vertical magic" of the written word

Dr. Timothy Snyder writes about words and where, exactly, they live. A thought-provoking article. Here's a preview.

Writing and the Arts

New Poem Posted (Finally!)

I often like to use layout and space in my poems, to indicate flow and emphasis. For some time, though, I've been struggling with Wordpress "eating" any non-breaking spaces I used to achieve that space. So, rather than having indents like I wanted, all lines

Writing and the Arts

Morning Pages Work for Bloggers Too

When I decided to get more serious about my writing, I went looking for books on writing to get me started. I checked various sites and lists to see what books came recommended as a “basic library for writers.” And one that seemed to be on everyone’s list was

Writing and the Arts

New poem -- "The Taking of Jim Smith's Life"

Short, fun, doggerel -- but also true. Read it here.

Meta

I'm Back

After many months away from all my sites, after many months of combining work with campaigning, after many months of doing no writing except for campaign blurbs and publicity pieces, I am very pleased and excited to share this important news: I'm back. After the election was over,

Writing and the Arts

The Muse Bank

I have long had an on-again, off-again relationship with Morning Pages (MP). Even though I am a big, big fan of Julia Cameron and The Artist's Way, as someone who works a regular job for a living and writes on the side, there have been long

Writing and the Arts

Getting MORE Serious About Writing

I've been pretty regular in doing my weekly Lection Reflection pieces, and they have gotten good attention, due primarily to being linked from TextWeek. (A great resource, by the way -- visit it, use it, and throw some support to Jenee, the person doing it.) It's been

Writing and the Arts

The Cure for Writing Constipation

I am in the second day of a two-day writing vacation. I take these once in a while to get away, see some countryside, and prime the pumps. On this WriteAway (cute), I'm at a state park that is almost empty. So, after checking in and unpacking,

Writing and the Arts

New Poem: "Baptism"

New poem posted on the Poems page: "Baptism" -- short poem of imagery about Jesus's baptism.

Writing and the Arts

Writing As Calling, Writing As Drug

Thinking this morning about writing, and why I write. One of the truths you have to face as you move into emotional health is your own neediness. If you are feeling needy, admitting it just makes the neediness worse, so it's a tough task; but, like many things in emotional health, just naming it can

Meta

Keeping Up

If you ask most aspiring writers why they want to be a full-time writer, they will tell you "the freedom." I suspect that many of them have an image of Hemingway in Havana, hanging out in a smoke-filled bar, drinking and telling stories. The idea of

Writing and the Arts

Happy New Year!

It's the first day back at work, and the first day back at writing. A few days ago, my friend Conway Stone asked on Facebook that we list three goals for 2012. Here's what I put: 1. Add 20 poems to my set and submit for

Writing and the Arts

Discovered: the Problem With the Louisville Orchestra

I have found the root cause of the demise of our Louisville Orchestra. It is in the first two sentences of the recent letter [http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20111118/OPINION02/311180051] from the LO board to the Courier-Journal. Do you see it? > As the board of directors of the Louisville O

Life in General

Interesting moment in Sunday worship

So there I was, singing away on some hymn like I usually do, glad that it had four verses 'cause that meant that I could try to sing all four parts (not at once, although some claim I try that too), when a thought crossed my mind:

Writing and the Arts

I'm Back to Writing

Work and life has been kicking my butt for about two months now, but I've decided to overcome and get back to writing. Sorry to post so erratically; working 60-80 hour weeks can do that to you. Now that Fancy Farm is over, and the fall election

Writing and the Arts

New Poem on the Site

Wrote it for the first "Open Mic Night" at Highland Baptist -- check it out here.

Life in General

A Book for Artists and Humans of All Kinds

Just finished The War of Art [http://home.stevenpressfield.com/books/war_art.asp] by Steven Pressfield. It's a book about the struggle to create art, to live to our higher calling, and to be and become what we are intended to be. And it has entered a very select category for me: Books That Changed M

Writing and the Arts

In Remembrance: Molly Ivins

(If you do not subscribe to the Writer's Almanac [http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/], you should. It comes each day and includes a poem for the day and various biographical tidbits about writers. Today's Writer's Almanac brings this entry for August 30:)

Writing and the Arts

The Daily Grind

(or, Writing Ain't Beanbag) I've been trying to get back into the blogging mode, doing something every day, for about a month. And it ain't easy. The job seems to take more and more time; I'm often in the office by 6:

Life in General

My Dad versus Liz Trotta

My dad was a journalist. He was a number of other things as well: son of a preacher, high-school boxer, WWII volunteer, medic during the war, concentration camp liberator. Journalism student at U of Missouri. Reporter, columnist, editor. But above all, he was a journalist -- a "newspaperman," as he

Life in General

Two Sunday Morning Blessings

Some of my friends and readers know that one of my lives is that of a musician. It's interesting how compartmentalized our lives are; many of my co-workers have no idea of this part of me, or of my long history in making and directing music. (And

Life in General

My Tribute to Molly Ivins

(Posted at the Texas Observer, her "home" paper) I envy all you people in Texas. No, really, I do. You got to know Molly for many years, while I only discovered her when I read "Shrub" for the first time in 2000. It's funny