tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31542813170434546782015-05-09T12:16:57.737-04:00Novice On WritingKHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.comBlogger171125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-63697560758572381752015-05-09T12:16:00.003-04:002015-05-09T12:16:57.766-04:00

Nulla dies sine linea --never a day without a line     ---Donald Murray Murray, D. (1986). One writer's secrets. College Compositions and Communication. 37(2), 146-153.

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-10066813386358422322015-03-01T18:20:00.001-05:002015-03-01T18:27:05.594-05:00

Guest blogger, Lillie Lindsay's poem,  "Red Riding Hoodie,"  <!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> is now published in  <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-33818928957141640632014-10-18T06:58:00.000-04:002014-10-18T07:03:04.277-04:00

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KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-2904284351963614342014-08-27T21:16:00.003-04:002014-08-27T21:24:33.175-04:00

The commemorations of the liberation of Paris (August 25, 1944) in the news this week reminded me of a novel I reviewed for ForeWord Reviews a few months ago: A Taste of Eternity by Gisèle Pineau.  It is set in contemporary times, but flashes back to liberation day as one of the main characters, Lila, tells the protagonist, Sybille, about the mood of the time: “You have to try to

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-30953994353186215932014-04-26T15:53:00.002-04:002014-04-26T15:54:57.111-04:00

A colleague and I recently published a piece in SIGNAL Journal about the award-winning author, Guadalupe García McCall. I reread our interview with her and found her description of her call to write most compelling. It taught me that I have to listen to those urges. If not, the pull may not return. Once, I would read literature and be compelled to write something. That strong feeling rarely

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-27641784987345153562014-04-01T18:18:00.001-04:002014-04-01T18:18:43.537-04:00

Poetry Reading & Book Signing Thursday, April 1012:30 - 1:30 p.m.ODU Virginia BeachLecture Hall 244 Poetry reading and book signing by poet D. Nurske highlighting his most recent work, A Night In Brooklyn. Nurske is an award-winning author recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and as poet laureate of Brooklyn.

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-70732804871733692012014-03-03T10:10:00.001-05:002014-03-03T10:10:49.275-05:00

The authors of “Under Construction: How Narrative Elements Shape Qualitative Research” seem to argue that framing a story via narratological devices ( e.g., plot, character,  authorial distance, and point of view) is just as important when sharing research data as it is when plotting a novel. While I admit that I enjoy reading/writing pieces that are conversational and enriched by

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-45669660015077563212014-02-22T11:49:00.000-05:002014-02-22T11:49:34.494-05:00

What have I learned about writing this week? It’s hard. For a while, I thought I had writer’s block. That’s freaking scary, especially when you are forced to produce. Reading helped me break away. Often I’ll read something really good and react one of two ways: I get jealous. Just totally envious of how great some writers are. They blow my mind. Or I am moved to write

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-30703816055369163632014-01-24T16:02:00.003-05:002014-02-02T16:13:34.685-05:00

"You've got to find what you love. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle." ~~ Steve Jobs I know everyone knows this quote. I have heard it over a thousand times in just as many ways,

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-43400216261268918072014-01-17T12:45:00.000-05:002014-01-17T12:45:42.379-05:00

I was talking to someone the other day who is in academia. He used to write often in all of the ways academics do, but because of his present position in administration the things he writes have changed (e.g., faculty review letters, and so on).   I had admired his earlier work, so I began our conversation with, “So, what are you working on?” He started telling me about a book chapter he

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-16960130713946454482014-01-11T05:30:00.000-05:002014-01-11T05:30:00.893-05:00

I hate painful endings Hungover beginnings Feet up counting my winnings From last night A ticket on the last flight Home I can feel you slipping from my grip My body dangles hanging off a cliff Your hand around my wrist You're about to let me go You watch me plummet to certain death I'm running from reality unable to stop and catch my breath It's grabbing me by the leg The reason my

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-73710358495483557082014-01-09T06:13:00.000-05:002014-01-09T06:19:18.025-05:00

I often spend time thinking about writing processes, my own and the authors I have interviewed. Of course I have learned that there is no one process for any individual writer or project, and there is no one way to begin. Over the last week, I have worked on several writing tasks, and I began them all in different ways. Book review 1 began with notes I dictated into TypeNote as they came to

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-46164908978186236212014-01-04T05:00:00.000-05:002014-01-04T05:00:06.407-05:00

Every time we have this conversation I'm lost in translation  mastered The Art of Persuasion  Your soul white, Caucasian  As white as the cocaine air forces  I Had A's on all my courses Back when I was in middle school  Got distracted by a swimming pool  That I would frequently visit  I would frequently hit it  My grades dropped  My waves stopped Cuz I grew my hair out  I didn't really

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-19491807311246018702014-01-02T15:38:00.003-05:002014-01-02T15:38:45.854-05:00

"Book reviews are an underappreciated art form in academic writing. Read them. Write them. Pay no heed to anyone who insists that book reviews--whether published or  electronic-- 'don't count' as scholarly contributions. Anything that makes you a more astute writer/editor contributes immeasurably to your ability." from p. 108, Writing up Qualitative Research by Harry F. Wolcott Note: I

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-45454461593718729412013-11-29T05:30:00.000-05:002013-11-29T05:30:03.172-05:00

I put my favorite quotes from Donald Gallo’s "The Writing Processes of Professional Authors,” English Journal, 83(5), Sept. 1994,p.55-60, into Tagxedo.     My favorite quote from the piece  belongs to Richard Peck: “Nobody but a reader ever became a writer."(58)     "...[W]riters revise in different ways. Beverly Cleary, for example, says she races through her first draft, never

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-23478773071341411152013-11-19T06:35:00.001-05:002013-11-20T16:52:48.861-05:00

I found the following advice that might help when we're rejected. Rejections sting, make us lose confidence, and fuel fear. This advice keeps us moving forward, giving little time to negative thinking. It's called Drew's Law on Publishing Papers: "...Every paper can be published somewhere. Your first papers will be rejected. Don't worry about this. View the reviewer's complete

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-60888572882788145982013-11-11T05:00:00.000-05:002013-11-11T05:00:03.819-05:00

Sometimes when writing or thinking about writing, fear creeps in. Fear of criticism; divulging personal thoughts and feelings; rejection; the blank page/screen; and/or success. Yes, some of us even fear success. How do we work through these fears so we can put our butts in the chair and write the way Anne Lamott advised? Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-23393059855127474412013-11-04T05:00:00.000-05:002013-11-04T05:00:01.559-05:00

Anne Lamott was interviewed on On Point last week. Near the end of the interview, a caller asked her about the writing process—moving beyond procrastination, having compassion for yourself when/if you succumb to it. The part of her response that stuck out to me was: “It’s such a blessing to have been given the hunger and thirst to be a writer. To become a writer. To become a person of

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-53196086835874696462013-10-30T13:05:00.000-04:002013-10-30T13:05:14.523-04:00

A few weeks ago, I went to ODU’s Lit. Fest with my sixteen-year-old son. Yes! I thought. (We had not attended an author’s talk or a play since he was in middle school.)  I thought he’d protest when I told him he was going. He didn’t.  There is only so much Madden and GTA one can play, I guess. We listened to Godchild share his poems from memory, from the heart. I scribbled

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-6603032897651210542013-10-28T00:00:00.000-04:002013-10-28T00:00:06.573-04:00

My guest blogger today is Z. Read his work in Z's Corner. Things are never fair, I still play the game I can hear Atlanta calling my name Her voice is the sweetest Lack of knowledge leads to destruction In a world marked by deep corruption In a country where the government don't function Just yesterday I was learning conjunctions Now I'm dealing with all the rumors and

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-2816864617902317902013-10-23T08:18:00.000-04:002013-10-23T08:23:36.103-04:00

Everyone seems to be talking about new adult literature. I feel left behind. Writer's Digest simply labels it literature written for ages 18 to 29-- right after declaring young adult (YA) literature stops at 17. Oh? I dig a little deeper and  learn that this genre is now "in vogue" according to new adult author Gensese Davis. Davis says she fought for the new adult label (as opposed to a

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-71931589006518185962013-10-21T05:30:00.000-04:002013-10-21T05:30:03.617-04:00

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.”   ~~Paul J. Meyer quoted by Kevin Harrington in Success magazine (Jan. 2011, p. 27)  

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-42218837849903346162013-10-14T21:19:00.002-04:002013-10-22T20:10:57.151-04:00

Nearly a month ago, NPR reported that Ghanaian poet  Kofi Awoonor was among those killed during the attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Melissa Block interviewed someone who said she was in the audience of a festival in Kenya at which Mr. Awoonor encouraged young writers. I was struck by what the woman said Mr. Awoonor told them: "When you want to write, look back at how your

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-91857712313889340522013-09-21T12:34:00.001-04:002013-10-14T21:21:04.285-04:00

2 lines stuck out for me in an interview with Tim Seibles published in ODU's student newspaper: Line 1---"I think we’ve entered a sort of golden age of poetry." Now, I don't write poetry, but I read it and turn to it often when I am experiencing a strong emotion. Recently, I wrote several senryus (I guess that's the plural form.) that helped me come to terms with a devastating loss. While

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3154281317043454678.post-57659656251171194342013-09-08T14:02:00.001-04:002013-09-08T14:05:39.514-04:00

Some Context: In the book above, Singer describes revealing her writing process to students, including showing editorial comments that led to revising a piece she worked on. She writes, "[The students] learned that revision is part of the process of clarifying how you express yourself in writing and not a sign of failure. Knowing that revision is a helpful process supports students' ability

KHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06601641123886530769noreply@blogger.com0