If you’re a writer, you’ll live your life not knowing if you’re any good. And you’ll die not knowing. I think John Berryman said that. After Phil Levine published his first book of poems, people said, yeah, but can you do it again? Then he did it again. Then they said, yeah, but have… Continue reading On Knowing If You’re Any Good
Tag: the writing life
Writing the Hard Thing
If I could tell you the number of stories and novels I’ve begun writing and not finished, we’d be here too long. But “not finished” doesn’t mean “discarded.” It means what it says. The difficulty comes when I’ve convinced myself that I’m one sort of writer (the consistent, cheerfully productive kind) as opposed the other,… Continue reading Writing the Hard Thing
Impressions of Wales
A travel-blog post on my first impressions of Wales. Read it here: https://bkk-writing.blogspot.com/2019/08/impressions-of-wales.html
The Peanut Gallery: Purveyors of Fine Hatred Since 1880
When I began teaching as a graduate student, publishing in magazines, and generally moving my life forward in visible ways, I learned a difficult lesson that accompanies progress: people don’t like it when you succeed. They don’t want to see it. They don’t want to know about it. And if they become aware that you… Continue reading The Peanut Gallery: Purveyors of Fine Hatred Since 1880
air and light and time and space
air and light and time and space "–you know, I’ve either had a family, a job, something has always been in the way but now I’ve sold my house, I’ve found this place, a large studio, you should see the space and the light. for the first time in my life I’m going to have a place and the time to… Continue reading air and light and time and space
Of Trouble, Money, and the So-called Writing Life
There is a writing life. And you could lead it if you could only get past everything else, which is to say yourself. This is what a lot of writers eventually believe, even if they don’t start out that way. Maybe you believe it, too. It’s not the wrong way to think (tell me there’s… Continue reading Of Trouble, Money, and the So-called Writing Life
One Job
For every good writing day, I have 20 bad ones. A good writing day is one in which I feel inspired to make progress on a piece. But that doesn't ensure that I will be able to finish it or feel satisfied if I do. It doesn't mean that I will think I did a… Continue reading One Job
FYI: New Story Forthcoming in Visitant Magazine
A recent short short of mine, "You Are Somewhere Else," is forthcoming in Visitant and should be available online. As usual, I will post the links when the story comes out. - M
STEM, Scientism, and the Decline of the Humanities – my latest on Splice Today
Read it here: https://www.splicetoday.com/on-campus/stem-scientism-and-the-decline-of-the-humanities
You Don’t Need Product Placement to be an Artist
This is what I often try to communicate on this blog. Here's Dave Grohl saying it from a musical perspective.
The Writing Expedition 