Why do we conflate creating with suffering? The word “artist” conjures images of manic-depressive poets who drink themselves to death and mad painters who chop off their own ears. Our conception of writers is especially bleak. In our minds, the writer is a tormented soul who spends his days hunched over his desk, forehead wrinkled … Continue reading
Shakespeare originally coined the phrase “jealousy is a green-eyed monster” but it’s so widely circulated that today the expression has passed into common speech. Why has this image endured for centuries? What spared this characterization from fading into oblivion when so many others slipped into the dusty cracks of history? I suspect it’s because no other writer … Continue reading
Yesterday was a productive but frustrating writing day. I must get out of the habit of looking to other writers for examples. Yes, it’s helpful to look to other writers as a guide but-when you’re thinking about submitting to a publication-it can be creative suicide. Suddenly, we’re writing for a market, tailoring our ideas and … Continue reading
The Blank-Faced Confidante 