It’s just no good to describe the act of writing. You’ve seen those glossy photos of a person smiling and tapping at computer keys or scribbling in a journal. A shapely mug of coffee is always cooling at the person’s elbow.
It is rather dull watching a writer sit quietly alone. She tilts to rest her head in one palm. Her other hand scratches away at a notebook page. She stops and stares into the mid-distance. The clock ticks.
We want to hear instead what she is writing or learn the value of the words she’s putting to paper. We want to know what it’s all about.
A lot of us keep writing despite the moody isolation. We have a fascination with world-building or the texture of the sounds and the thrill of solving that extra tricky plot problem or making a shapely argument.
I’ve covered the local beat at a newspaper, written academic papers that I presented at conferences and published freelance travel writing, features and book reviews. Through it all, it has been the curiosity and creation that drew me on. Trying on new perspectives, seeing the world fresh and being utterly transported by story.
- Giving Spirit – a profile of Melinda Gates – Alaska Beyond Magazine
- Water, Water, Everywhere – winner of the 16th Oregon Quarterly NW Perspectives Essay Contest
- Bone Girl – a StorySlant example