(Second in a series on writing an icon in the Orthodox Christian tradition. Click here to start at the beginning.) It all starts with a white gesso board. No. That’s not right. The board is not actually white with gesso, ready to receive lines and paint, until the fourth step of the process. If I […]
Writing an Icon (The Writer’s Inner Life)
Recently I told the readers of my newsletter that I’m exploring writing of another kind: I’m “writing” an icon as taught in the Orthodox tradition. I asked them to let me know if they would be interested in reading about the process. A number of people said “Yes.” Precisely the same number of people clicked “Unsubscribe.” […]
On Memory and Creative Work (The Writer’s Inner Life)
These are bitter cold days in Pittsburgh where I live. At this latitude these are also short days; among the shortest of the year, with either gray gloom or low glaring winter sun. It can be hard to simply be. Add in the busyness of the ramp-up to Christmas and it can be very hard to […]
Setting Sail Into Writing Fiction (The Writer’s Inner Life)
I’ve not posted often in the past month. I spent the time writing the first draft of a novel. It was NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) — when several hundred thousand wannabe novelists around the world each set the goal of producing a 50,000 word first draft in the month of November. I’m happy to say […]
NaNoWriMo Dreams (The Writer’s Inner Life)
Last week I told you I’d set myself a new writing challenge: I signed up for NaNoWriMo — that’s NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth, November, when thousands of people commit to writing a 50,000 first draft of a novel in 30 days. Well, it is October 31, so I have not written a word, but I’ve […]