Skimming the stories I loved so, I saw the growth of a writer. Glimmers of the novel I am drafting now and the woman I am becoming shine out in those early pages of limping syntax and predictable plots. Every now and then, a good sentence or single word stands out and says, "There is hope for you yet, Scribbler."
I was inspired this morning as I walked to practice piano for an upcoming recital... this would have been great, had I been inspired to practice. Rather, I was inspired to set the opening of Wordsworth’s The Prelude to music. My roommate (bless her) stopped me just in time: “Ryanne, if you write a melody and…
I took this photo on a sunset run and added the words (surprise! They were not actually fabulous skywriting!) as I was doing some reading later. The exercise, combined with the wisdom of St. Hildegard, were a welcome relief to an emotional day. Sometimes on overcast days like today, we fail to remember the sun.…
Yesterday was the birthday of renouned American author, Ray Bradbury. Three more years and we can celebrate his 100th birthday. But even in 2017, Bradbury's birthday is special to me because his stories provided the kick-in-the-pants I needed to take my writing seriously. Before entering high school, my family and I made a trip to…
The world is a mess. Whatever your political views, we can all agree that it's a rough world out there. However, while the news is increasingly depressing, I found an unlikely hero to cheer me for a few hours: Winnie-the-Pooh. Somehow I grew up reading everything in reach yet missed this classic! So I decided,…
Went to the children's classics section in search of some light reading...now I am just wondering how many poor young Winnie-the-Pooh fans have been traumatized by Poe instead... Perhaps Eeyore likes Poe's stories. "Nevermore" seems like his type of vocabulary. Still, "Welcome to your nightmares" is a daunting phrase to put on a book beside…
The title of this post is made of two puns, so I'd say it's off to a good start. Today I want to talk about fonts. I know, I sound like Brick Heck from The Middle, but I strongly believe that fonts and type style are crucial to the success of a piece of writing. The other day,…
It's Book Lovers' Day! Perfect timing to have my first draft printed! My mom was so amused at my excitement that she turned a picture of my manuscript into a baby announcement. 😂
Once again, a graveyard has inspired poetry. This time, it was the historic Greyfriar's Kirkyard. It was once the post of a loyal dog (Greyfriar's Bobby) and now is rumored to be haunted by a malevolent poltergeist. It also features several tombstones with names that JK Rowling used as Harry Potter characters! Needless to say,…
Too often, I find myself staring in admiration at my bookshelves. The ornate covers of collectables, the crackled pages of old favorites, the bright illustrations of new editions... *sigh of delight* To my abashment (isn't that a lovely word for a not-so-lovely feeling?), I own and admire many books I have yet to actually…
