Thursday, December 03, 2009

Home again, home again....



...after a delightful, if short, visit with Angel May. We talked and talked, and we ate and ate. It was perfect. A lot of our talking was about writing, both hers and mine, and about our insecurities around writing. We spent part of yesterday at the used bookstore, William James Bookseller, where I bought books about writing by Natalie Goldberg (a long-time favourite) and Lawrence Block. I also bought The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Beating Writer's Block, by Kathy Kleidermacher.


I thought it might be useful some time - but it turned out to be immediately helpful. There are some great suggestions and exercises in there, and inspirational quotations, too.

AND: The author recommends blogging as a writing exercise. Ms. Kleidermacher is now one of my favourite authors.

Note to Angel May: I see that the book is available on Kindle.

Note to self: Remember to take a larger suitcase when you go to visit Angel May. You should know by now that when it's time to come home, you always end up struggling  to fit half a dozen newly-purchased  books into your suitcase, which was full when you left home.

I didn't write as much as I had planned on the boat, but I did write some, and I spent time gazing out the windows at the scenery, which I should do more often. Then I sat down and wrote about what I saw.

Now it's back to work, and back to writing at my usual place.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

It seems like this may have been the perfect thing after the intensity of NaNoWriMo--glad you had a nice visit.

Sara Diana said...

I would love to be able to write but just dont know where to start!

RLM Cooper said...

There is something on my blog for you, Sandra. Please come to visit.

Sandra Leigh said...

Thanks, John. My visit was a wonderful break from the NaNo slog - and seeing Angel May is always a pleasure.

Sara, I don't think anybody knows where to start, except to sit down in front of the computer (notebook?) and start writing. One of my favourite mentors is Natalie Goldberg. I recommend her "Writing Down the Bones" for inspiration and instruction.

Angel May, I'll be right there.

Chef E said...

I found a great website also that gave me some inspiration for writing, as well as a few poet friends we call each other and bounce things off each other. Not the same as writing longer pieces, but I do better for now practicing on shorter vignettes and such...

Sandra Leigh said...

Chef E - Which website is that?

RLM Cooper said...

Nice day for staring out at the scenery as you toodled across the strait, too. Mountains were clearly visible. So lovely.

About that suitcase - you definitely need to underpack to leave room for books. :)

Kat Mortensen said...

I'm really confused. How do you know Angel May? Were you visiting in person?

I've been collecting writing books lately too. I'm reading a great little one (part of a series, I believe, but I got it at a thrift store) called, "The Art of Time in Fiction" by Joan Silber. It is excellent!
I picked up Stephen King's book on writing a little while ago and am anxious to read that as well.
Also have a tome by Jane Smiley that I got at Chapters in the remainders for ONE DOLLAR! and last week at Goodwill I came across a mint textbook for a NY schools Masters in Creative Writing course. I have done well. Now it's finding the time to read them. (I keep important books in the bathroom, since as we age we spend more and more time in there, don't we?)

Kat

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