I meant to make this post last night, that is, last year. New Years Eve, or the holidays for that matter, have been largely uneventful. Family was sick so we were not able to gather properly for Christmas and New Year's. They're recovering though, thankfully. I stayed in with the husband (I almost typed boyfriend,… Continue reading Wrap Up
Tag: creative process
Lovely Distraction
A lot of baking has been happening lately, and I think it has an inverse correlation with my word count. There is something satisfying about whisking sweet batter, leaving things to finish off in an oven. Sometimes, I catch myself in a fantasy where I think of a story, imagine its plot unfolding then find… Continue reading Lovely Distraction
Completion
Hand-sewn dining chair slipcovers—two sets of four pieces. Beef borsch (traditional recipe). Cleaned the gunk off the window ridges. Banana-chocolate chip bread, cottage cheese cake, and other baked experiments. Framed V’s oil painting and found a place for it alongside other photos and wall decorations. These are things I finished in the course of… Continue reading Completion
Writing Weary…Again
Still revising the same story I mentioned last March. A piece drafted two years ago. Short stories are sly and merciless like that, quick to consume but take forever to create. Come on, tell me something new, I beg the lines as I do yet another reread. Our relationship is akin to that of a… Continue reading Writing Weary…Again
Writer / Wanderer
...to me, a written piece is already "performing" once I've put it on paper. It's already working for an audience (reader), even if it's safely tucked away in my notebook (or saved in a drive). Drafts on paper make me pay more attention to the technical aspects of a written piece. Grammar, punctuation, and paragraph breaks are all important causes. But for me things that have more to do with the story's soul—characters and setting, tone and theme, conflicts and resolutions—are more easily resolved when I'm not yet burdened by a hard copy.
Scribbles in Spirals
A search for new story ideas led me to the box of diaries I wrote back in high school. I had taken a peek at these notebooks from time to time but had never actually read them. Boyfriend was away for a couple of weeks so I ended up poring over three or four notebooks during my free evenings. I… Continue reading Scribbles in Spirals
Writer’s Resolutions
Last year, I realised that I was willing to earn less money to gain more time to write. To this day I'm still thanking myself for quitting the 9-to-5 life, which not only gave me quality time for the craft but also taught me a few things about sustaining a writing life. So here are a few notes… Continue reading Writer’s Resolutions
Leah Ranada 