Silence. My yearning for it is as strong as my need for sleep. At least eight hours of sleep and almost as much silence. Otherwise, don't expect too much from me. Today I have silence. For an entire day. It's a different kind of silence than I experience weekly once the kids are off to … Continue reading A Path to Publication, part 12: When the silence descends
Author: Joanna Tebbs Young
A Path to Publication, part 11: Yeah, what IS your book about?
For the past week I have been frantically editing my manuscript, molding it word by sentence by paragraph into a shape that looks remotely like something the agent who requested it will like. Of course, that is an impossible task, because to what she will ultimately say yes or no, is as beyond my control … Continue reading A Path to Publication, part 11: Yeah, what IS your book about?
A Path to Publication, pt 10: Kicking open the creaking door
At this past Saturday's conference of the League of Vermont Writers, keynoter David Dobbs encouraged us to kick open every door that creaks. This metaphor has been a repeating one in my life lately and I have been knocking on several. What I didn't expect was for some of these doors to not only creak, … Continue reading A Path to Publication, pt 10: Kicking open the creaking door
A Path to Publication: part 9: When life gives you lemons and you have no sugar
Ah, the writing life. You hear it all the time: it's damn hard. There are cartoons and quotes all over the place about problems with which writers are well acquainted: procrastination, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, the high of inspiration turning to the agony of reality, too little time, too much wine, doubting friends, know-it-all strangers, writer's … Continue reading A Path to Publication: part 9: When life gives you lemons and you have no sugar
A Path to Publication, part 8: When the Censors come a-knocking
You can invite them in for a moment, but then shoo them out saying: Thank You. Don't let the door hit ya on the way out. Today is not a good day as far as my book goes. Last week I finished one step of the editing process (re-reading and making notes) and could not … Continue reading A Path to Publication, part 8: When the Censors come a-knocking
The Path to Publication, part 7: Brewing questions
What is it ABOUT? It's been almost exactly a year since my graduate thesis and creative project was approved by my advisors. It has had time to mellow. Or ferment? Was I afraid it had fermented so much that it would explode when I took it from its box buried in the closet? What on earth … Continue reading The Path to Publication, part 7: Brewing questions
Clickage: When it all comes together
I've been a tad hard-of-seeing, for probably, oh, let's see. Ever. I don't mean with my physical eyes (although when I finally got glasses for long-distance in college I was amazed to find that objects in my surroundings actually have edges). No, what I am referring to a general lack of focus when it came … Continue reading Clickage: When it all comes together
W.O.R.D.S.: Hell (or Unpeeling the Onion of your Psyche)
The W.O.R.D.S. Project (Words Open Resonating Depths of the Sacred): An alphabetical search for questions.* Hell? There is no fire, no devil, no death that holds me in its hot grasp of fear, Even heaven holds no charm to trick me when it is so clear, that, yes, Life can be hell if it is … Continue reading W.O.R.D.S.: Hell (or Unpeeling the Onion of your Psyche)
The Path to Publication, part 6: What is Creative Non-fiction?
Writing is like building a spider's web. Create a point of connection, attach it to another, and another, until a whole network -- a piece of art; a story -- has been built. Each point of learning, each experience, each conversation, each sentence I write is slowly building a story, the overall design of which, … Continue reading The Path to Publication, part 6: What is Creative Non-fiction?
The Path to Publication, part 5: Writing from “home”
(Number 2 of 3 posts on the Creative Nonfiction conference in Pittsburgh, PA, May 23-25, 2014) I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in needing time to recoup and process after downloading a bunch of information. After a conference, for example, I need time to transition back to regular life, as well as time to assimilate … Continue reading The Path to Publication, part 5: Writing from “home”
joanna tebbs young 