On MLK Day there's this skinny kid with his drums in the parking lot next to our house, facing the ocean and the about-to-set sun, drummng his heart out. It's wonderful - loud and full of life and making a lot of the neighbors crazy. On the other side of the parking lot is a van, the kind our friends had in the '70's, belonging to a bunch of women having a day at the beach and smoking a wee bit of something fragrant. And one parking lot to the north there's this rooster running loose who salutes the dawn every morning with total joy. I'm loving all this and thinking there's a poem in it. But instead of a poem I'm writing this blog post and giving you the details for a poem of your own.
Welcome!
- Ready to start writing? We're here to help with reading lists, creative writing exercises, and a nurturing writing community.
Writing Rooms
Categories
- Fooling Around with Poems (21)
- FYI Publishing Tips (10)
- getting published (36)
- getting started (23)
- Inspiration (78)
- Internet Tips (4)
- Keeping a Journal (5)
- Lies & Truth in Fiction (18)
- Personal Essays (28)
- Quotes for Writers (10)
- Student Spotlight (10)
- teaching writing (41)
- Terrific Books (54)
- The Writing Life (191)
- Writing a Blog (19)
- Writing Advice (69)
- Writing Exercises (23)
- Writing for Kids (3)
- Writing Memoirs (10)
- Writing Your Own History (10)
Recent Posts
- Onward...
- 2014 Writers Studio UCLA Extension
- Lake Arrowhead Writers Retreat May 2-4
- Read This: Some Great Books
- Home
- Drumming to Sunset
- Work That's Real
- A New Year to Write Dangerously, And if You Speak Korean….
- Happy Holidays From My Family to Yours
- New Blog! The Intimidated Cook: The Non-Foodies Guide to Cooking for Friends
Search the Archives
Subscribe!
- We publish new posts weekly. If you would like to be notified when new posts are added, please enter your email:
Reading Lists
- Click on a book or book title and you will automatically be connected to Amazon.
On My Bedside Table
Annie Proulx: Brokeback Mountain
The spare, beautiful short story the movie came from.- Tony Hendra: Father Joe
A memoir of much recent controversy. Reading about Father Joe is worth wading through Tony Hendra's demons. Zadie Smith: On Beauty
She makes it look easy. It's a page turning novel of ideas and character.Charles Baxter: Saul and Patsy
A deep, serious, funny novel by a writer who should be better known outside of literary circles.Karen Armstrong: The Spiral Staircase : My Climb Out of Darkness (Armstrong, Karen)
Articulate and deeply insightful.
Favorite Favorites
Anne Lamott: Bird by Bird : Some Instructions on Writing and Life
A book that truly encourages you to write, understands you, makes you laugh and cry as you read it.
On creativity
Rollo May: The Courage to Create
To go deeper into the creative process and yourself.Twyla Tharp: The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use It for Life
Full of inspiration and really practical advice and exercises.
Inspiration to Get Started
Anne Lamott: Bird by Bird : Some Instructions on Writing and Life
This is my favorite of favorites. Encouragement and humor.Brenda Ueland: If You Want to Write : A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit
Her 12 things you should know/do as a writer are timeless.Carolyn See: Making a Literary Life
Such good advice, and so hilarious.Deena Metzger: Writing for Your Life : Discovering the Story of Your Life's Journey
An exploration of creativity, story and spiritual practice through writing.Dorothea Brande: Becoming a Writer
Her "artistic coma" is what we're all looking for.Naomi Epel: Writers Dreaming: 26 Writers Talk About Their Dreams and the Creative Process
Writers reveal all their weird and wise working quirks.Natalie Goldberg: Writing down the bones
Zen bits of advice, inspiration and wisdom.Ralph Keyes: The Courage to Write : How Writers Transcend Fear
Like having a funny, smart, articulate friend holding your hand when you start.Stephen King: On Writing
My copy flutters with Post-its. He writes of the true magic of writing.
How Other Writers Do It
Annie Dillard: The Writing Life
“A work in progress quickly becomes ferel,” she writes, and you nod yes, yes.- Daniel Halpern: Our Private Lives
A look into the process of writing via raw excerpts from writers’ notebooks. An out of print treasure. Donald Hall: Life Work
A poet at work, and living life with poet Jane Kenyon.John Steinbeck: Journal of a Novel
His daily warm-up letters to his editor while writing East of Eden.Naomi Epel: Writers Dreaming: 26 Writers Talk About Their Dreams and the Creative Process
Weird and wise ways of writers working as well as dreaming.Stephen King: On Writing
How it all started, with smart advice for other writers.
Essays
Anne Fadiman: Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader
Elegantly written essays about loving books.Phillip Lopate: The Art of the Personal Essay : An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present
Great introduction and selection of 400 years of personal essays.Anne Lamott: Traveling Mercies : Some Thoughts on Faith
From her heart and soul, both funny and honest.Natalia Ginzberg: The Little Virtues
Brilliant essays to learn from and live by.Ellen Gilchrist: Falling Through Space: The Journals of Ellen Gilchrist (Banner Books)
Actually from her broadcast NPR pieces. A portrait of a writer in family and work roles.Andre Dubus: Broken Vessels
Includes elegant pieces full of courage written after his horrific accident.Joan Didion: The White Album
She's a master of the contemporary essay.
Poetry
Billy Collins: Sailing Alone Around the Room
Read "Introduction to Poetry". Funny, accessible, and also serious poetry.Jane Kenyon: Otherwise : New & Selected Poems
Read the title poem first. A poem to live by.Mary Oliver: New and Selected Poems : Volume One
Read "The Summer Day" and "The Journey" - more poems to live by.Raymond Carver: Ultramarine
He makes it look easy. It isn't.
Recently Published Memoirs
Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking
Pure Art. I read it in one sitting.Ulla-Carin Lindquist: Rowing without oars
Lean and illuminating prose as the author faces her own death. To be published in the U.S. in April ’06.Carole Radziwill: What Remains
A beautifully written memoir that transcends its celebrity frame of the Kennedys.Donald Hall: The Best Day the Worst Day
The story of the death of his wife, Jane Kenyon.Samantha Dunn: Faith in Carlos Gomez, A Memoir of Salsa, Sex and Salvation
The title alone should make you want to read it.
Memoir for those who can't get enough
Carolyn See: Dreaming, Hard Luck and Good Times in America
Witty, as well as poignant - and written with abundant generosity.Genevieve Jurgensen: The Disappearance
The most heart-breaking memoir I've read, written as letters to a friend.James McBride: The Color of Water
The amazing story of his white Jewish mother who had twelve black kids, all of whom grew up to earn graduate degrees.Judy Blunt: Breaking clean
Her story of fleeing rural Montana and her family to become a writer.Katharine Butler Hathaway: The Little Locksmith
Like finding a friend who has a deep and inspiring inner life that she'll share with you.Kathleen Norris: Dakota
A book not only about her life and spiritual growth, but also the meaning of community and place.Kathryn Harrison: The Kiss
The true version of her novel, "Thicker Than Water".Mark Doty: Firebirds
Growing up gay in suburbia - funny, deeply moving, eloquent.Mark Doty: Heaven's Coast
Some of the best writing on grief I've ever read - both spiritual and literary.Mary Karr: The Liar's Club
The book that started the current popularity of memoir.
Want to Write a Memoir? Read these first
Maureen Murdock: Unreliable Truth
Exploration of memory and why and how one should write a memoir.Vivian Gornick: The Situation and the Story, the Art of Personal Narrative
A writer's writer takes a deep and illuminating look at the genre.
Blogs We Love
Writing Resources
- 10 Writing Mistakes
Pat Holt, an editorial consultant and former editor, describes 10 common writing problems and how to fix them. - Amazon Shorts
A collection of short, never before published, literary works (stories, novellas and essays) that can be downloaded for $0.49 apiece. - Amazon Shorts Needs Writers
Amazon is looking for any previously unpublished short-form work (2,000 - 10,000 words, fiction or nonfiction). - Author Network
An extensive index of writing resources. - Backstory
Authors share how they got started writing and the stories behind the stories. - Creativity Portal
An online creative "sanctuary" for artists and writers. Contains articles, projects, and resources to get your creative juices going. - Fresh Yarn
Read this online salon devoted to personal essays. - Imagine Magazine
"It's never too late to be what you might have been," said George Eliot. Imagine is devoted to helping you create the life you want to live. - Screenwriting Tips
Emmy award-winning Stephen Cannell discusses discipline, choosing your story, characters and structure in this free online seminar. - Spoiled Ink
Poets and writers post their work and get feedback from the rest of the Spoiled Ink writing community. - Wordcount
Need inspiration? This ranking of over 80,000 words by frequency, produces sequences of words ("often seen school money") guaranteed to spark an idea. - Writing on the Run
Filled with tips and exercises to get you writing. - Zinkville
A community of writers and readers, featuring a literary e-zine and book reviews.
Comments