“Children see magic because they look for it.” Christopher Moore This hyperbole meaning torrential rains has probably around since the sixteen hundreds according to Charles Earle Funk in his book Heavens to Betsy & Other Curious Sayings. We don’t use it much anymore, which seems a shame. It’s such a colourful, playful expression conjuring up
IN A BLUE FUNK*
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” Tom Hanks as Jimmy in A League of Their Own, staring Tom Hanks and Geena Davis. Dottie (Geena) wants to quit the baseball league, claiming it’s too hard. That’s the way I feel about writing.
READY, SET, WRITE! (For Teachers)
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry School is back in! Some are cheering. Some are groaning. (Mostly the parents are cheering and teachers
FOR EVERY CATCH
As Hall of Fame football receiver Don Hutson once said, For every catch I make in a game, I’ve made a thousand catches in practice. Tim McCarver (Tim McCarver’s Baseball for Brain Surgeons, and Other Fans,) It’s not that practice makes perfect, but it does improve your chances for success. When I was at one
NEW EYES
“The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust. When revising, it’s easy to get locked into a particular mindset. After working mega hours to finish a novel, it’s only natural to see everything in the same way. After all, you have carefully crafted the scenes and
A FRESH BEGINNING
“The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour
THE OPEN DOOR
There is something magical about doors. Perhaps it is because you can imagine what you will find behind the door. Closed doors can prevent you from discovering the mystery on the other side, which is not always a bad thing. As long as the door is closed, you can imagine whatever you like. And an
THE VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS – Neil Gaiman
I have not always been a Neil Gaiman fan. It took me a while to discover his immense talent and wisdom,. And I have to say it all started with Fortunately the Milk, which I absolutely adore. But this is not about Fortunately the Milk. Gaiman’s Newberry Award winning book The Graveyard held less appeal
MY NOTEBOOK ADDICTION
Like falling in love, moments that announce themselves as your subject are rare, and there’s a magic to them. Ignore them at your own peril- Dani Shapiro Notebooks are how you capture those rare, magical thoughts, ideas, moments. It has never been quite clear to me whether I continuously start new notebooks because I am disorganized
WRITE A HABIT
Commit to write every day, no matter how little. Strengthen the cobweb until the cables form! Have a writerly weekend!