Writing is a hard way to make a living, which is why a whole ecosystem exists to help you feel like you’re succeeding at it. Hashtags like #amwriting provide steady pep talks for people wading through the muck of a first draft. Dubious-seeming ads on Facebook peddle frictionless methods for selling thousands of copies of […]
The Writing Retreat could have been a decent little thriller, and there’s definitely glimmers in here of a better book under the overwhelming amount of baggage that comes packed in the 400 or so pages this one operates with. Between the angst-filled characters, the laborious pace, and the generous helping of the ludicrously incredulous, this […]
I’ve always thought of myself as a writer, although saying it out like that sounds a bit pompous, at least to me. Building something through my words never fails to thrill me, but I wouldn’t say I like to attach a defined role to it. I think the lack of pressure on my younger self […]
“THE WASTELAND GROWS,” wrote Nietzsche over a century ago. “Woe to him who hides wastelands within.” Since then, the wastelands have grown more indiscriminately within and without. Our social and spiritual lives wither on our cell phone screens. Our cities, habitats, and public arenas suffer from a blight whose causes remain obscure while the effects […]
The Yahara Writing Center isn’t trying to turn anyone into the next Henry David Thoreau. Although if that happened, that would be okay too. Troy Hess, the center’s founder and guiding spirit, started leading small group classes on poetry, nature writing, and mindfulness almost six years ago as informal get-togethers in area coffee shops. “It […]
