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Learning to trust the process

One of the things you need to learn about writing is how to trust the process, to trust yourself, your imagination, to accept whatever images your imagination gives you, to receive without judgment...

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One Writer's Process: Deborah Underwood

Writing is HardI wrote a picture book last year. Revised, revised, had some interest, revised, revised, got to a point where it felt better, but now am at a point where to go forward I would need to...

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Listening for a voice

You think you're listening for words, waiting for them to appear, but really you're listening for a voice, and only when you hear that voice can you hear the words.It's a voice that whispers in your...

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Where to you go from here?

Where do you go from here? How do you know which path to take?What if you can't see a path yet? How do you know howto carve a new one?Where does this knowledgecome from? When did you learnto have faith...

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Just an empty sky

No poems in sightthis morning,just an empty horizon,a cloudless sky without wordsand mundane thoughts of errandsthat need to be run,visits to be made,plans for the weekend,prose without poetry--like...

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Where are you going

Where are you goingand how do you knowyou're on the right path?What are the signposts you look for?How can you see a turncoming in the fog?Who is walking with you?Why are you making thisjourney...

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What I learned in Mrs. Hunt's Fourth Grade Class

Every day after lunch in Mrs. Hunt's fourth grade class we returned from recess and sat at our desks and listenedto her read aloud to us from a story book (which happened to be The Incredible Journey...

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It's like improv

You don't  have a plan. Each morning you take a pen and open your journal to see what will happen. It's this not knowing and your curiosity that brings you back to the page each day to see if you'll...

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The fear and magic of writing

I'm revising lightly as I go through the manuscript again, but it's not easy to face the truth of what's on paper. I put this off for months, and each morning I'm still putting it off, not wanting to...

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It's like dreaming

Each morning I listen to the silenceand hope to hear a voice and wordsI've never heard before.I listen with my earsbut, really, it's a differentkind of listeningthat requires you to openyour heart, to...

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Why do I write?

Why do I write?Trying to answer that question is like trying to define love.How do you put a feeling into words? Why do you love anything?You feel something strongly... but what is that feeling? And...

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You must embark

Each morning you put pen to paper hoping words will appear. You never know what you'll write and so you write to find out what you're thinking, what you're feeling.First, you have to summon the courage...

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There are secrets you can't see or know

There are secrets you can't see or knowuntil you begin writing.Your pen opens the world like a key unlocking a door.Each page is like an empty canyonwaiting for the echo of your voiceto fill it.Sitting...

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The way ink dries

The way ink smudgesbefore it driesthe way letters form on the pagethe way a simple linecan convey meaningthe way wordssound like your voicethe way your handholds the penthe way a poemtakes shapethe way...

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It's like a miracle happens

Each morning I set aside a half-hour to write these pages.It's the time of day I love--the silence of early morning, the blank pages waitingin anticipation for words,the not knowing what I'll find on...

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Out of nowhere

It’s so strange how poems come out of nowhere like clouds passing by like birds soaring overhead fluttering to a branch for just a moment suddenly still then flying off again or like rabbits  hiding in...

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A love of books

How Aunt Sylvia loved books! They filled her house, and onmy visits I'd find them scattered on every available surface. Bookshelves, tables, nightstands,radiator covers. Stacks of booksshe'd already...

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Just a glimmer

You reach a point when your mind goes blank like a blackboard that's been erased, only chalk dust clinging to the board but no words, and you stare into the blankness wondering where the words went and...

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Replenishing the well

Lately I've shortened the time I spend writing in the morning.In part it's an effort to re-charge my energy after a busy month and give myself a rest. The chance to rest will, I hope, help replenish...

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Listening for words

Listening for wordswaiting for a voiceto whisper in my earhoping I'll recognizeit when I hear it--if I hear it--not knowing whatto expectsitting in anticipationof something(but what?)not knowing...

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The future has yet to be written

I don't know where I'm goingthe future is unknowna sheaf of daysthat have yet to be writtenblank pageswaiting for wordsthe words hiddensomewhere in the futureperhaps stored in a penI have yet to pick...

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Every morning

Every morning I sit down at my desk not knowing what I'll write, not knowing if I'll find the wordsto write anything at all.I can spend hours filled with doubt that I have nothing to say, no words...

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Full steam ahead

Full steam aheadyou mustn't look backno glancing over your shoulderat the pages you've writtenor the days that camebefore this oneeyes fronteven though you can't seewhat's coming you must step into the...

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The way words fall on the page

The way wordsfall on the pagelike snowflakesmaking patternson the windowpane.It's mesmerizing--writing, putting wordsdown on paper--every word shapeddifferently, creatinga new patternon the page,an...

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They say if you want to write

They say if you want to writeyou need to write aboutwhat hurts the most,so you ask yourselfwhat's causing you the most pain,and then you waitto see what your heart reveals.But what if they're wrongand...

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