As a writing instructor, I yearn to take credit for the ingenious, creative, perceptive stories my students create. They’re kids, mostly middle-schoolers, and I yearn to point at their work and say, “They know how to do that because I taught them how.” But I believe...
A couple of weeks ago I finished the first draft of my novel, and paused to take that single breath of victory before diving back into battle. At first, I’m nervous to use the word battle, because I fear someone will tell me to relax or not to struggle. I myself used...
When Ilona Fried of the À La Carte Spirit blog invited me to a blog-hop on writing, I was thrilled for a different reason than you might think. Yes, I love to write about writing. Yes, I felt honored to be chosen by a wise, thought-provoking blogger. I’m also in awe...
I write at home, which sometimes gets lonely. Here are ten of my simple strategies, for better or worse, for dealing with that: 1) Watch an hour of Netflix at lunchtime 2) Walk to my favorite neighborhood coffee house to write 3) Take a five-minute break to...
I’m excited to go to a write-a-thon today at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop because I find it energizing now and then to write creatively when I’m surrounded by other people doing the same. However, there is one thing that I have become used to doing when I write...
A few tweeps on Twitter occasionally tweet their annoyance with the way other tweeps tweet. Not annoyance with their opinions, but with the way they fit their thoughts into 140 characters. In a country that celebrates free speech, I’m grateful both annoyers and...
Cara Lopez Lee is the author of They Only Eat Their Husbands. She’s a winner of The Moth StorySLAM and performs in many storytelling shows, including Unheard L.A., and Strong Words. Her writing appears in such publications as Los Angeles Times, Manifest-Station, and Writing for Peace. She’s a traveler, swing dancer, and baker of pies. Cara and her husband live in the beach-town of Ventura, California, where they enjoy tending their Certified Wildlife Habitat full of birds.
