Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

by Erika Dreifus on
4

imagesExercise Time!

All the New Year’s tweets and Facebook posts about resolutions began to swim together. But one lingered with me long enough to remember the point: Consider it an “intention,” not a “resolution.” I wish I could credit the person who shared this idea, because I love it. And it’s helping me manage a big writing intention of my own: daily writing.

Even if it’s only a few minutes per day, I am INTENDING to write briefly for myself each day in 2015. To help me get in/keep to this habit, I’m currently relying rather heavily on exercises and prompts.

One week in, and so far, so good! One of the poems I wrote after scanning this list of prompts may actually turn into something…someday. And the few hundred words inspired by Midge Raymond’s “Bad Habit” tip may be something I return to as well. (more…)

Sunday Sentence

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Unknown
In which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, sharing the best sentence I’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”

To turn from The Elementary Particles to The Rings of Saturn is like exchanging the passionate complaints of an outraged teenager for the quiet, hypnotic monologue of an old man.

Source: Adam Kirsch, “The Last Men: Houellebecq, Sebald, McEwan,” in Rocket and Lightship: Essays on Literature and Ideas

Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Treasure Chest
Writing-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend.

  • As happy as I was to meet my 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge, I couldn’t help thinking that I should have read more poetry during the past 12 months. So I’m grateful for this Page-Turner post featuring some of The New Yorker‘s 2014 poems.
  • My job change in summer 2014 has led to less of a focus for me on freelancing tips. But if freelance writing is *your* thing, you should perhaps take a look at these “17 Super-Useful Posts About Story Ideas, Article Writing, Interviews, and Editors” over on Carol Tice’s Make a Living Writing blog.
  • As one of the few people on the planet who has ever heard an episode of Serial, I probably won’t stun anyone with the news that my forays into podcasts are few and infrequent. But I do plan to listen this weekend to the 100th episode of Gil Roth’s “The Virtual Memories” show. Gil’s is one of the few podcast series that I *do* make an effort to keep up with, and this episode seems especially intriguing to me: “For the 100th episode of The Virtual Memories Show, we bring you an interview with your podcast host, Gil Roth! Thirty past and future guests provide the questions for an in-depth conversation about books and life. Find out about my reading childhood, my dream list of pod-guests, my best practices for productivity (don’t have kids!), my favorite interview question, my top guest in the afterlife, the book I’d save if my house was on fire, what I’d do if I won a Macarthur Grant. and more!”
  • I’m proud to say that I’m not often guilty of committing the top offense cited within the NPR Grammar Hall of Shame. (But that doesn’t mean that I’m *always* so innocent!)
  • And to conclude, a reminder for those who may be inclined to be interested: I maintain an entirely separate blog, My Machberet, in which I focus on literary and other matters of primarily Jewish interest.

    • Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    I suppose this post could also be called “End-of-Year Notes from a Practicing Writer.”

    I’m going to keep this short. Hope that bullet points are okay with all of you today!

  • I’m thinking of last year’s spotlight on Lisa Romeo’s wonderful “I Did It!” list idea. I’m thinking that I should work on my own “I Did It!” list for 2014.
  • I’m thinking of the seminar application that is my current “work-in-progress.” (3 essays required!)
  • I’m thinking of the post on “My Year in Jewish Books” that I’ve just published over on my other blog—and applauding myself for actually managing to meet my Goodreads challenge for the year.

    • How about you? What’s on your writerly mind as 2014 ends and 2015 begins?

    Happy New Year!