Cindy on April 8th, 2008
âHow vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.ââHenry David Thoreau
It’s a little warmer outside, and I’m so ready to get out from behind this desk. After a long winter — endless months spent staring at my computer screen — I feel like a zombie. I get weird and unhappy when I do nothing but write. Or think about writing. I need balance in my life.
Many writing teachers have told me that the only way to become a real writer is to make deadlines and stick to them. This is very good advice. Authors have a reputation for being quirky or unpredictable — but the wildly successful ones aren’t quitters. They persevere. In fact, I’ve met a few who work so hard that they haven’t met their neighbors. Their world is populated only by agents, editors, publishers, and other imaginary characters.
But the solitary creative life â the tortured Poe brooding at his desk — is too one-dimensional for me. I believe you run out of air, not to mention ideas, if you lock yourself in a cabin or a garret and bleed on your keyboard until dinnertime. I don’t believe it’s possible to be an interesting writer (or person) unless you’ve got a real life — a life that offers up a wide variety of experience along with little glimmers of insight.
The happiest people I know lead three-dimensional lives, even if they’re not particularly adventurous. They don’t obsess over their careers, and seem to have gotten over themselves. They volunteer at the hospital, plant tomatoes, straighten their toolboxes, and trek through suburban jungles on the way to the post office. They raise children or Abyssinian cats. Some care for aging parents when they’re not working at the bank. Others rise early to ride mountain bikes or photograph morning glories.
As Rainer Maria Rilke told us in Letters to a Young Poet, even the most ordinary activity shimmers with poetry or story potential. But you have to leave your desk to make that discovery. So take a break from organizing paragraphs. Stop obsessing over plot and punctuation. Turn off the computer, grab your notebook, and tour a different neighborhood. Observe the zoology at a local park. Or if you’ve got the time and the budget, book your dream trip to Ohio Amish Country or Paris, France. Do everything you can to squeeze the juice out of your life, then come home and tell us what you’ve learned. — Cindy La Ferle
Cindy on February 22nd, 2008
“One thing that never ceases to surprise me is the way stories and ideas seem to attract discoveries like magnets.” — A.S. Byatt
Special thanks to everyone who attended my Writer’s Life discussion series earlier this month at the Royal Oak Public Library. Response was so terrific that the ROPL agreed to schedule another Writer’s Life series this fall, on September 4, 11, and 18, at 7:00 p.m. in the Auditorium. Advance registration is required, so phone librarian Rosemary Mirsky (248-246-3715) or e-mail rosemary@ropl.org to reserve your spot. Space is limited.Throughout the year, a variety of other writing programs, from science fiction to memoir, will be offered through the ROPL’s new Writer-in-Residence program. Please check the ROPL Web site for new updates — and watch for the Spring 2008 Library Leaflet, which lists upcoming Writer-in-Res events and programs.
Another writer recently shared a very helpful online message kiosk listing a variety of other local programs of interest to writers in southeast Michigan, primarily in the Oakland County area. – CL
Cindy on February 16th, 2008
It should come as no surprise that the bestselling author who gave us The Artist’s Way and 
countless other books on creative writing, has penned a riveting new memoir. In Floor Sample Julia Cameron weaves a compelling, honest portrait of her Catholic upbringing, doomed marriage to Martin Scorsese, and her battle with drugs, alcohol, and Hollywood. “When I look at my life from the vantage point of today, twenty-seven years and half a lifetime later, I see that everything changed on the day I committed myself to staying sober,” she writes. Cameron also describes the circumstances that led to the publication of The Artist’s Way, which made her the revered leader of the creative recovery movement. Written with clarity and compassion, Floor Sample easily falls into the “I can’t put it down” category, so plan to stay up all night with this one. (Thanks to author Cynthia Harrison for this recommendation!) — CL
Cindy on February 7th, 2008
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.” –Stephen King
I’ve been stuck in bed with the worst-ever case of flu this week. But just in time, a big box of brand-new writing books arrived from Amazon. The way I see it, there’s no such thing as too much chocolate, and a writer can’t have too many good books on writing. Among my new treasures are Natalie Goldberg’s Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir, and Barbara Abercrombie’s Courage & Craft: Writing Your Life into Story.
But what’s really grabbing my attention right now is the new writing guide, Your Words, Your Story by local author Cynthia Harrison. Harrison teaches creative writing in Macomb County, and has published short stories, essays, and poetry in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. She also reviews books for Publishers Weekly. I started reading Harrison’s writing guide last night, and couldn’t put it down. I kept reaching for my pen to highlight paragraphs that I want to read aloud in my Writer’s Life forum at the Royal Oak Public Library. This book is a generous mix of memoir and practical writing advice, and I’m happy to recommend it. Visit Harrison’s online diary for more info and writing inspiration. – CL
Cindy on February 5th, 2008
Special thanks to the Detroit Free Press for the feature they’ve published on my role as the new Writer-in-Residence for the Royal Oak Public Library. Community support has been fabulous. I’m also very grateful to the ROPL and to all of the local writers who’ve helped launch this program so successfully. – CL
It’s a little warmer outside, and I’m so ready to get out from behind this desk. After a long winter — endless months spent staring at my computer screen — I feel like a zombie. I get weird and unhappy when I do nothing but write. Or think about writing. I need balance in my life.
