It was only a passing thought: Maybe I should write a letter to Frederick Buechner (it’s pronounced BEEKner, by the way) with a CC to Annie Dillard. A couple of things stopped me. First of all, Fred is in his 80s. I decided anybody who writes the way he does for as long as he [...]
Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category
Dear Fred
Posted in Communication, Self-examination, Writing, tagged Annie Dillard, Art, Books, Frederick Buechner, God, musings, novels, Personal, perspective, reflections on writing, Self-examination, the writing life, Writing, writing process on January 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Gifts Differing
Posted in Communication, Self-examination, Writing, tagged God, literature, musings, reflections on writing, Self-examination, writers, Writing, writing life, writing process on December 5, 2009 | 2 Comments »
For a while today I felt a bit like the beautiful woman who wants to be admired for her mind. I’ve been reading about writing again … real writing. Serious writing. Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Buechner. Writing that defies time and tide; digs down into the bedrock of the human condition and takes a good, hard [...]
Balancing Act
Posted in Communication, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Self-examination, Society, Writing, tagged balance, focus, grace, Writing, writing process on November 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Delicate balances aren’t exactly my forte. My personal style tends more toward Martin Luther’s metaphor: A drunkard who falls off the right side of the horse, staggers to his feet, and tries again to mount, only to overshoot the mark and topple off the horse’s left side. Still, even I know delicate balances are usually [...]
Perspective
Posted in Communication, General, Self-examination, Writing, tagged Books, humility, perspective, Self-examination, Writing on November 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This is the voice of experience speaking: Lessons in humility tend to pop up when you least expect them. In my case, “when you least expect them” equals “the precise moment I’m fullest of myself,” which is, of course, when I’m ripest for the teaching. Take the summer of 1976, for example. The ink on [...]
The Writer On My Shoulder
Posted in Book Reviews, Communication, Seasons, Self-examination, Writing, tagged life balance, spiritual life, thomas merton, writers, Writing on November 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In his book The Seven Storey Mountain Thomas Merton wrote … But then there was this shadow, this double, this writer who had followed me into the cloister…. He rides my shoulders, sometimes, like the old man of the sea. I cannot lose him…. He is full of ideas. He breathes notions and new schemes. [...]
The Art that Drives Me
Posted in Communication, Self-examination, Writing, tagged Books, Life, musings, Personal, reflections on writing, the writing life, writer's life, Writing on November 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided that when it comes right down to it, I don’t understand writers at all. I reached this interesting conclusion shortly after I finished writing for the day, which, I suppose, only goes to prove my point: Writers just don’t make sense. I’m not sure who Gene Fowler is or [...]
Variety Is the Spice
Posted in Book Reviews, Communication, Fiction, Nonfiction, Self-examination, Writing, tagged Book Reviews, Books, Life, Pascal, Weil, Writing on November 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Some books are a walk in the park. You go because it’s fun and entertaining, and because you just need to get away for a while. Lord knows, in today’s world we can all use some park time. Then you’ve got your sneaky books. They’re entertaining, too, but they’ve got ulterior motives: They want to [...]
Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman!
Posted in Communication, General on July 29, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Question: How long has it been, since you received a letter from someone? No, email doesn’t count, and neither do text messages, postcards or that quickie catch-up note your friend Harvey scrawled in the last birthday or Christmas card he sent. When was the last time you went to the mailbox and found an old-timey, [...]
