Tag Archives: Writing

And Now for Something Completely Different

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“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.” ~Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker stampTaking a break from kindness posts for some shameless self-promotion. I am thrilled that a short essay I submitted to Dorothy Parker’s Ashes was accepted for publication in the latest issue. The theme of this issue is “libido.” And there’s quite an array of libidinous essays to be found should you be in the mood for things lascivious. Mine is entitled  “Parental Guidance.”  

If you’re not familiar with Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, it’s a delectable online journal of essays and poetry written by women. Each issue has a theme. I’d encourage any female writers reading this (and I know there are many) to check out DPA and consider writing something for one of their upcoming themes. Here’s a link to their Submit page that lists themes and deadlines. You can also subscribe for free.

If the journal’s name seems odd to you, it’s a delightful reminder of just who Dorothy Parker was and the circuitous journey her remains took following her death in 1967. Parker, you’ll recall, was the quick and acerbic wit who delivered such bon mots as “A hangover is the wrath of grapes” and “I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t true.” She was well-known as a critic, poet, short-story writer, and screenwriter. Parker was also known for her caustic humor, her liberal leanings, and her participation in the famed Algonquin Round Table, along with Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, George S. Kaufman, Harold Ross, and several other of the top critics, writers, and humorists of the early-twentieth century. Later, she was among the many writers and actors blacklisted during the McCarthy era. When she died of a heart attack at age 73, she bequeathed her estate to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and upon King’s death, to the NAACP. Continue reading →

The Writer as Wounded Healer

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“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.  What a man can be, he must be.” (Abraham Maslow)

Attribution: Donna CameronI have collected quotations for many years—inspirational quotes, humorous ones, profound, wise, and enigmatic ones. Hundreds of them are tacked onto cork board that lines one wall of my home office. Many are yellowed with age or so faded that I can barely read them. I often find myself standing in front of this assemblage and reacquainting myself with wise thinkers and thoughts, with ahas that speak directly to the heart of an attentive life. It’s always a pleasure to find a new quote and squeeze it onto the wall. There will be no Marie Kondo-ing of this space.

One quote that found me a couple of years ago, and was also immediately given both wall space and a spot on my writing desk, is by Sean Thomas Dougherty:

“Right now, there is someone out there with a wound in the exact shape of your words.”

…keep on reading…

Where Writing and Kindness Intersect

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“I think the deeper you go into questions, the deeper or more interesting the questions get. And I think that’s the job of art.” (Andre Dubus III)

 Attribution: Donna CameronRecently, I was invited to submit a guest article for the SheWrites.com author blog. They suggested that I write about the connection between kindness and writing.

Over the last four years, I’ve explored kindness from every angle I could think of—and some were a bit of a stretch (baseball, jazz, cats). But I hadn’t thought much about kindness and writing, even though they’re two of my favorite things.

I’m pretty happy with the resulting article. Since it wouldn’t be proper to reprint the entire post here, I’m including the first couple of paragraphs and then a link to the full article on the SheWrites site. I hope it resonates for you.

What do writing and kindness have to do with one another? Why not conflate writing and prudence, or kindness and water-skiing? Is there more than just a passing connection between these two wondrous endeavors? Could it be that there’s an important place for kindness in the writer’s life and process?

In my multi-year exploration of kindness, I’ve noticed that some of the principles of living a kind life can also be applied to living the writerly life. There are skills that must be cultivated to extend kindness: learning to pause, learning to stay present and pay attention, withholding judgment, and employing curiosity, to name just a few. These same skills power a good writer. Where would we be without the capacity to wonder why, or notice details, or allow our story to unfold without judging our writing or our characters too quickly? Kindness also requires that we be patient, that we take the time necessary to achieve our desired goals. Writing? Ditto. And kindness asks us to overcome inertia and our own innate laziness to extend ourselves outside our comfort zone. Writing? Yep, that, too.

Read the full article here

What’s Your 10K?

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“Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result, one day a light that is in exact proportion to them will flood the soul.” (Simone Weil)

A few years ago, I was in a small village in Scotland and had an opportunity to listen to a local author. One of the notes I took from her talk—delivered in such a delightful brogue—was the comment, “What’s for you won’t go by you.” This saying has its roots in Scotland, but as so often happens, I subsequently encountered it in many places.

I’ve had the phrase pinned to my bulletin board ever since that trip. It comforts me and it also troubles me—as good ideas often do. I like the notion that what’s meant for us will persist until we find it. But it seems both facile and dangerous to assume that what I need to live the life of breadth and depth I desire is hovering patiently somewhere nearby.

…keep reading…