What I learned this week
Sometimes, surprise yourself.
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Developing habits that protect the work
“True originality eschews its trappings.” That’s about the only thing Freud ever said that I agree with. Being a creative person — writing books, painting pictures, developing the theory of evolution — is incredibly time-consuming. It’s hard. It’s an awful lot of work. If you’re spending all of your time on appearances, on the trappings, you simply don’t…
Putting your dreams in the present tense
I’ve been lucky to be a freelance writer of nonfiction for many years. A fantastic tribe of readers — people like you — have supported my efforts by buying my books, attending my talks, sharing your thoughts and otherwise making my work a joy. Even those of you who send me notes from your prison…
On how we are free
Years ago, Jessica had a big plastic castle that she got for Christmas, and a number of princess figures that fit inside. One day she came to me and she said, “I let all of the princesses out of the castle and now they are free!” She was beyond excited; she was thrilled. And…
The watchers
A flaneur is a person who walks through a city observing life rather than partaking of it, and I think to some degree all writers and indeed artists in general are flaneurs. We do seem to be a little separate from others, watching without joining in. Even when we do join in there is part…
Respecting Literature
One of the the things I adore about Spain is how strong the book culture is here. There are countless bookstores in the area where I live – I can think of eight within a kilometer or so. They’re not franchises, just small, family-owned businesses that thrive despite the fact that Amazon and ebooks are…
The story of your life
Many years ago, when my daughter was born with a rare genetic disorder, her neurologist learned that I was a writer and asked if I would keep a journal of my experiences, something he could share with other families on a like journey, making the hard decisions that parents of badly ill children sometimes have…