Simple Tools and New Favorites

Help! I can’t connect to the Internet. I logged into my computer this morning only to discover that my cable was out. I wonder if we’re at the mercy of our electronic toys. What will I do if I can’t “communicate” with the world? What if I could write without the distractions of email, click [...]

Read Full Post »

Flowers Can Have Bad Hair Days Too

Of course flowers can’t really have bad hair days, but an image can suggest much — when we take the time to look and use our imagination. If you passed the “pink spiky” in your yard you might not even notice an individual blossom. I can’t even remember the name of this guy. No matter [...]

Read Full Post »

Writing is Like Cutting the Grass

The hardest thing about cutting the grass is deciding to do it. The easiest part is putting the lawn mower away when you’ve finished. You have a choice. You can either look out your window at the grass that won’t stop growing or you can just cut it, then sit back and enjoy the view [...]

Read Full Post »

Distraction Free Writing Revisited

The first post I wrote for The Aware Writer was Google Docs Secrets For Distraction Free Writing.  I still like Google Docs but I like working on my own system with my own tools. Looking for a new writing environment is like shopping for new shoes. I hate shopping for new shoes. My old sneakers [...]

Read Full Post »

Virtual Desktops & Real Distractions

I’ve been looking through the wrong end of the telescope. I like to use a powerful text editor for my writing instead of a bloated word processor. I have a good one that does everything I need (almost). I wanted an editor that takes up the entire screen but keeps the text in the middle [...]

Read Full Post »

Monday Musings: How Do You Enter a Child’s World?

I’m not even going to try to express the image of Megan in words. I really like this photo. It’s a high key image that captures the moment and peeks into Megan’s world. What is she doing that has her so enthralled? I know but I won’t tell you. You might have an idea, but [...]

Read Full Post »

Thoughts About E-Book Formats

Writing an E-Book has me thinking a lot a about format. PDF files are based on printed paper sizes first and viewing with a computer second. I got to wondering about standards, where they come from and why we use them. Did you know that the standard gauge for American railroads (the 4 ft. – [...]

Read Full Post »

Bards, Broadsheets, Broadcasts and Bloggers

Blogs and bloggers are positively Medieval and that’s a good thing. Medieval bards were the first citizen journalists, individuals carrying the latest news from place to place with their tales and ballads. People are curious. We’re communicators, we’re social and we’re nosey. We need to know what the neighbors are doing.
Even before the printing press [...]

Read Full Post »

What is Writing Anyway?

I got to thinking about writing the other morning while writing my morning pages. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, introduced me to morning pages. She says “In order to retrieve your creativity, you need to find it.” Morning pages are three pages of longhand stream of consciousness writing done each morning before you do [...]

Read Full Post »

How Do You Measure A Baby’s Smile?

Good luck. You’re going to need it. How do you measure a baby’s smile? is an expression I like to use when someone suggests measuring the unmeasurable. Any attempt to measure a baby’s smile or any other emotion is going to run head on into an oxymoron, an impossibility. A baby’s smile is an [...]

Read Full Post »