Thank you, readers! Thank you, writers. Since March 30, 2011, I’ve enjoyed sharing insights about writing. Now I’m taking a vacation from blogging.
Instead of writing about writing, I’ll be drafting fiction and posting monthly interviews at MG Book Village. I love reading new releases and getting glimpses, however brief, of authors’ journeys from inspiration to publication. I still remember a day growing up when I marveled over the ending of a novel so amazing that, well, how could anyone be that brilliant? At the time, I assumed writers simply sat down and wrote books straight through, start to finish. I couldn’t begin to imagine how they did it. Well. Ha! My interviews sure have helped me understand. (Wait, so you mean you crafted the ending before the beginning? Whoa.)
I still have tons to learn. These days, sometimes at 3:00 AM I’ll wake with my brain doing sentence-level revisions—moving a phrase here, changing a tense there, deleting an adjective. It’s crazy. Mind-spinning. Exhausting. Exhilarating.
If you find the creative process even half as rewarding as I do, we’re in the same boat. Hold fast to that oar, okay? There’s some mist ahead… is that a rock? Come on, come on, we’re drifting. Row harder. We got this.
Thank you, Jane Westrick, for permission to post images of your paintings. You inspire me!
Anne, do what you have to do! Looking forward to your next book!
Thank you, Linda! I’ve loved blogging, but it takes a lot of time away from writing fiction. Years ago, when my daughter Jane was looking at colleges, she tuned me into the difference between a BA degree and a BFA. “I want the BFA, Mom. I want to DO art, not just talk about it. I want studio time.” Whoa. So… THAT’s the difference? Thank you, Jane! I started looking into MFA programs. I didn’t want an MA or PhD. I wanted to write. I wanted to understand the craft, and yes, of course getting an MFA includes doing literary analysis and criticism, but the priority is craft. And of course, as you know, that’s how I ended up getting my MFA from Vermont. My daughter went on to get her BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and her MFA in painting from Rutgers. She’s helped me become the writer that I am, and I am soooooo grateful for her insights. The journey is great, however we get there. Happy writing to you!