“I don’t want to be a writer writing about writing.” I told myself this. All pure. “I want to simply write fiction. I want to channel all my creative energy and time into only fiction writing.” First off, I keep writing other things besides “fiction.” I write poems. Apparently. This is new to me. Maybe […]
Judging Someone Who Interrupts Me When I’m Writing: Let’s Do The Work
I often yearn for great stretches of uninterrupted hours to write. I fantasize about losing myself for the morning or the whole day, even, writing and plotting and creating and planning. I even find myself with a dedicated hour, which in this hectic life seems like a luxury. I’m deep into my piece, the words […]
I Guess I Believe in Writer’s Block Now
There’s a ton said out there about writer’s block. The fact that it’s a word everyone has heard about like coffee or love or sky shows it must be a thing. Do we name things that aren’t real? But then there are a lot of writers who say there’s no such thing as writer’s block. […]
Embrace the Should
Don’t should yourself. Should is a supremely unhelpful word. More people are learning this, I think. I’ve been unpacking should in my life for years. It’s like a plaque in the arteries of our mind, a limescale buildup in old pipes. It expands and cakes and crusts up and gunks up the works. It stops […]
My Overview of The Work
“Judge your neighbor, write it down, ask four questions, turn it around.” – Byron Katie It sounds so simple. And it is. But it isn’t. I’m not a facilitator of The Work, though one day I might be. Right now, I’m a practitioner and fan. I want to have an introductory post on the blog, […]
Changes to carynwrites
When lockdown started, I was in the middle of a partial pivot with this blog. I was looking for a way to write content consistently that people wanted to read and that I enjoyed writing. Since I enjoyed eating out and there are plenty of great plant-based food options in Orlando, I thought I would […]
Fiction Book Review: Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons
Set in Charleston, don’t let this book fool you. Islands isn’t really about the four couples that make up “The Scrubs,” all successful men and women in their early 40s or so who live and work in Charleston. Nor is it about the collection of houses they rotate through, from the Sullivan Island beach house […]
Fiction Book Review: Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
In Jenny Colgan’s Bookshop on the Corner, we meet Nina, a librarian whose library in Birmingham, England is about to close for good. She’ll soon be out of a job and isn’t sure what to do. She already has a collection of books that is spilling out of the room she rents from a friend […]