It’s interesting how skills acquired during one occupation are applied to a future endeavor. I’m thinking about the connection between music and writing: how to perform or write the perfect phrase. I have my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music, played first trumpet in the US Navy Band in Washington, D.C., and taught trumpet atContinue reading “How to write a “kick-ass” sentence”
Tag Archives: compassionate & compelling stories
The man with a crack in his back likes green eggs and ham.
It has been so long since I last wrote a blog. What seemed so smooth and effortless has become herky-jerky as I stutter through broken words. I have lost my rhythm. In a rut, that’s where I am, where life is sustained more by the involuntary movements of my heart and diaphragm; unable to feelContinue reading “The man with a crack in his back likes green eggs and ham.”
There’s no rosin on my bow.
I ran across this brief essay that I had written at the time of the 9-11-2001 tragedy. This came at a time when I was heavy into psychotherapy for childhood sexual abuse. Reliving my experiences caused me to make a comparison between the misery of 9-11-2001 and childhood sexual abuse. I’m sorry if I offendedContinue reading “There’s no rosin on my bow.”
Fiction or Nonfiction, characters need depth.
I was in a small room waiting to see my pain management doctor. There, taped to the wall, was a series of bright yellow faces staring at me, ten of them as I recall, each with a particular facial expression, indicating the level of pain that I was experiencing. At the time, the pain inContinue reading “Fiction or Nonfiction, characters need depth.”
Every writer needs a “shit detector.”
It was twenty or some years ago when I studied with Lisa Knopp, a faculty member who taught creative nonfiction writing at the local university. I worked privately with her for over three years. Of all the things that she taught me, and there were many, I’m continually reminded of her advice each timeContinue reading “Every writer needs a “shit detector.””
To the mentally ill who have no voice. Please listen.
After visiting family in Wisconsin, a place where cold people have warm hearts, it is good to return to our home in Southern Illinois. I have been thinking about what my next blog would be. The answer became clear while I was surfing over the internet and discovered a blog that grabbed my attention. BecauseContinue reading “To the mentally ill who have no voice. Please listen.”
Bleeders make the best writers.
I had to post a quotation that was shared by Teretha G. Houston on her twitter account. “There is nothing to writing. All you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” — Ernest Hemingway. Wow, is what I thought when I first read Hemingway’s quote. I certainly feel that way whenContinue reading “Bleeders make the best writers.”