Figuring it out as I go

Strategy: William Stafford — “Lower your standards”

By Rooze McKelvey | April 24, 2021November 15, 2021 by Rooze McKelvey

William Stafford wrote over 20,000 poems. My favorite quote about Stafford’s prolificness (prolificity?) comes from our local paper, The Oregonian:

“Writing every day resulted in about 20,000 completed or attempted poems; only about 6,000 have been published.”

ONLY 6,000… I imagine the author of that article has a dry sense of humor. It’s the “20,000 completed or attempted poems” that intrigues me, however. Stafford woke up early every day and wrote. His advice to others about what to do when they can’t write?

“Lower your standards and keep writing.”

Field Notes

Strategy: Trick (or Treat?)

By Rooze McKelvey | April 18, 2021April 18, 2021 by Rooze McKelvey

Rational Brain says let’s take the day off and go to the park; Reactive Brain says TREAT and offers no resistance. Rational Brain says let’s spend today working on this manuscript that scares the hell out of me; Reactive Brain sounds the alarms, slams on the brakes, and starts refreshing Pinterest as if your life depends on knowing how to clean your toilet with baking soda and vinegar.

Field Notes

NaNoWriMo / Language is a Virus

By Rooze McKelvey | November 9, 2014July 14, 2021 by Rooze McKelvey

Words count. That isn’t meant as a philosophical statement, at least not in this particular post. That is the heart of National Novel Writing Month, known as NaNoWriMo. 50,000 words count, to be more precise: that’s the goal for the month. As the title might give away, the idea is to write a 50k-word novel in the month of November. People do this. My writing partner, Dot, has done it every year since forever and…

Field Notes

One True Sentence

By Rooze McKelvey | October 21, 2014February 21, 2022 by Rooze McKelvey

Hemingway’s “Write one true sentence” is one of those pieces of writing advice that has always made me chuckle…Sometimes I feel as if I can spend a lifetime and not reach that goal. Other times, I remember that he did not say “Write the best line ever known to humanity” or even “Write one good line.”

Field Notes

Field Notes — An Exploration

By Rooze McKelvey | January 12, 2014April 24, 2021 by Rooze McKelvey

If life faithfully followed my calendar, by the time the clock struck 7am, I’d be awake, fed, caffeinated, and sitting with a pencil in hand writing fervently for the next 90 minutes. At the end of what would surely be an inspired writing session, what were once empty pages would be covered with well-wrought language, ready to transport readers (which would be lined up eager to consume said pages) to places of deep connections with a new understanding of the world we all live in. And I’d close my notebook, satisfied and eager to move on to the portion of my day dedicated to more practical endeavors, like work that pays enough money to pay the bills.

The real world and the brightly colored blocks on my calendar, however, seem to be in constant conflict.