“Why do we write? A chorus erupts. Because we cannot simply live.” I adore Patti Smith. I’ve never been a huge fan of her music or followed her career. To me she is an artist that lives on the edge of my perception. I know her, but she is just there. A few years ago I picked up “Just Kids”, I don’t remember why. I loved it. Patti Smith lives life straight from the heart. In devotion Smith takes the time to reflect […]
A Sea Change in My Creative Process
Many of the stories I love the most descended from either Twin Peaks or Blade Runner. I love everything about the worlds in both. And, Twin Peaks was my gateway drug to David Lynch, the famous painter/filmmaker/transcendental meditation evangelist. If you’re familiar with David Lynch’s catalog (Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet), you’d think a trip into his mind would be terrifying. However, I found Lynch’s audiobook on creativity and meditation to be nothing but comforting and encouraging. In Catching the Big Fish, which Lynch […]
Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend
I didn’t think this book would be so emotionally difficult to get through. As readers of someone else’s fiction, it’s difficult to remember that there’s a real, down-to-earth, eats-and-breathes human behind the characters and fake world we so fall in love with. Terry Pratchett is himself, and even though Discworld was born from his head like Athena from Zeus, he’s not Discworld or any of the characters in it. In fact, to read his nonfiction is to sit in a very earthly room beside him […]
A tale of plotters for pantsers.
In writing there’s two types: the plotters and the pantsers. The plotters decide and document the entire plot before writing. The pantsers start writing and hope that a plot sorta happens along the way. Spoiler alert: Plots don’t usually happen that way. Also spoiler: I’m a totalt pantser. So in an effort to learn how to be a plotter I’ve been picking up some books. This is the first one I’ve finished. The writer’s journey is based on the idea that all stories are basically […]
Do good work and share it with people.
A few pages into this book, I thought that it was really not for me. If I’m being perfectly honest, I only continued because it was a fast read and I’m several weeks behind on my Cannonball. It’s a book about creativity, and making things, and getting off your ass and actually doing it, and finding inspiration, and living a healthy life instead of just being a creative who drinks and stays up all night. I ran into some weird identity stuff here. I couldn’t […]
How to Write a Knitting Pattern That Looks Professional
This amazing little book is designed to help a beginner knit designer write a professional pattern that others can use. It’s not designed to be super in depth, and doesn’t cover a lot of things a more advanced designer would need to know, such as grading (designing a pattern to fit different sizes) or how to create ideas. It doesn’t cover marketing, or the actual designing of a pattern. I bought this book because I have designed a shawl/wrap and want to write the pattern […]
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