Ideas are easy to come by if you don't crowd your head with distractions. Ideas are even easier to come by if you question everything. The Slow Turn The other day while driving home from a store, a pickup truck in front of me made a very slow … [Continue reading]
I would not say I am contradictory for the sake of itself, but if I don't believe in a rule, it's unlikely I will follow it. From a societal standpoint, the way I look at most things conforms with most social mores -- so I am a law-abiding … [Continue reading]
It's not that I don't take time off from work, but it's rare that I take full weeks off. Long weekends happen somewhat frequently, but in over 5 1/2 years where I work, most weeks off have been stacked around Thanksgiving. Taking last week off … [Continue reading]
I try not to use The Juggling Writer to complain about things. Sure, I talk about work sometimes cutting in line before writing and other things like that, but...it is a blog about all the things in life competing for time with writing. But I'm … [Continue reading]
This is how it all played out: we had the writing retreat initially scheduled for April 1 - 3. It was canceled because of a minor medical emergency that could have become major hit my friend, Deacon. A thing you must know about Deacon: after a … [Continue reading]
A few things going on, lately... HEAR Now Festival A story I wrote was accepted as an official listening selection for the The HEAR Now Audio Fiction and Arts Festival. A bit more about that over on the Not About Lumberjacks blog. Writing … [Continue reading]
I did not come pre-package with musical aptitude. In fifth grade, I joined my elementary school's orchestra. I played violin. I practiced more than most classmates and was understanding things enough that I wanted to learn how to tune my … [Continue reading]
I've mentioned Jack Cheng's "Sunday" letter newsletter here before. This week, Cheng wrote about plot. In the piece, Cheng shares a couple great quotes from George Saunders. This is the one that stuck with me (and, apparently, Cheng): I don’t … [Continue reading]
A wee medical thing with the friend who takes part in the annual writing retreat means we're going to have to reschedule. I still plan to take Monday and Tuesday off to write, though. And then sometime later this spring, summer, or maybe even … [Continue reading]
When a story breaks about someone on YouTube earning a lot of money from making videos, it's almost inevitable: someone's going to say, "I'm gonna start making YouTube videos and making millions..." It's usually said in such a manner that the … [Continue reading]
In movies, roommates leave a bevvy of items on doorknobs to tell their roommate, "Hey, I have things going on in here, and I would appreciate it if you found another place to crash tonight..." I consider myself fortunate that the one roommate I … [Continue reading]
The sixth annual writing retreat is booked. Last year's retreat was at Daingerfield State Park...and this year's retreat will be there as well. After my day job getting the better of me last year, I look forward to keeping the momentum of 2018 … [Continue reading]
Recently, I wrote an entry about what it takes for me to be productive. (Quick version: Don't do so damn much, say no to things, and stop distracting yourself with things that pull you away from writing.) In many ways, that's what I did when I … [Continue reading]