by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Feb 21, 2012 | Beautiful Things, Broken Pieces, When Life Hurts
During a group therapy session for people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I was asked to respond to the following poem: “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Sep 30, 2011 | The Writing Life
Dear Friday, I haven’t written one word this week. Not. One. Word. For many reasons, most of which are excuses masking the real problem. Fear. Yes, the good old trap of comparing myself to others and finding myself wanting. Will that ever go away? Maybe with...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Sep 20, 2011 | Beautiful Things, TED Talks, The Writing Life
Writing is work. Hard work. Mentally draining, emotionally exhausting, and physically demanding (the last because we often forget to eat, sleep, and exercise as we craft our stories). We give all we have to the creative process as we “breathe air into the lungs...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Jul 25, 2011 | On Craft, The Writing Life
In his book Stein on Writing, Sol Stein points out that “Readers enjoy dialogue in stories and novels. Those same readers would hate reading court transcripts, even of dramatic confrontations. What makes dialogue interesting and so much actual talk...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Jul 14, 2011 | The Writing Life
Why am I a writer? Why did I choose this vocation (because it’s way more than a job)?I’ve thought about this before but Robin Sullivan’s seminar on marketing and Sierra Gardner’s post really had me digging deep for the real answer, not the “right” one.I...
