This is probably the first year since I could hold a pen that I didn't make New Year's Resolutions. After recently taking the enneagram and discovering myself to be the "Reformer" (wing "Achiever") this is rather surprising. I love goals and lists and plans and I work, practice, study, and exercise consistently. However, while I…
In my "Redeeming Culture through Music" class, we were asked the following question: "Which is most important in music: the composer, the performer, or the listener?" The class more or less unanimously expressed that the three persons are equally important. After all, if there is no composer, there is nothing to perform and if there…
As I was practicing piano the other day, I wrote a series of three questions to ask myself as I worked on each detail: Is it clean? Is it beautiful? Does it mean something? First, I work technically, listening even to exercises to discern if they are played with clarity and precision. Are they clean?…
Walking through Cambridge, inspiration is difficult to avoid. My apologies to those on the sidewalk who had to go around me as I stopped to give this poor bird a proper elegy. "His eye is on the sparrow," so 'tis sung But 'neath some foot or wheel its feathers flung- Poor claws curled up in…
Method acting is a key point in my novel. One of the characters is an actor who has become "stuck" in the role that he last performed. He has lost himself into the character he was contracted to play. There are obviously a MANY problems that arise from this (many dark moments for this poor…
There is a story to be found in anything and, I am finding, that there is also a theology to be found in any story. I feel this poem is an apt example of enjoying the beauty of an old tale reimagined while contemplating a truth that shimmered in the retelling. Mirror, Mirror Had Great…
I often refer to my novel as "my baby" and I know this is a tiny bit weird. But, being a writer, I really could not care less if I'm weird. Still, I think I have a valid point when I call my novel a baby, as... "Writing a Child" It changes each…
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…
I turned twenty on November 14th, 2016. It was weird. Every day I was thinking, “one more week until I am no longer a teenager” or “three more days until I am a real adult.” But then, when the day came, I felt the same. This should not have been surprising, but I could not…
Dear fellow writers,Should you ever decide to change perspective halfway through your novel's draft, do not use Word's "Find and Replace" feature because otherwise when you try to change "I" (the pronoun) to your character's name (Paige, in this instance), you might find every letter "I" replaced with her name. Oops. That Paiges a serPaigeous Paigeue. Sincerely,Ryanne
