This post is part of the “Notes to Self” series where I have to make a point in 100 words or less. On your marks, get set, go! *** I tried reading a Kristin Hannah’s book a few years ago but I gave up after the first twenty pages or so. Boring story, […]
“You’re not an English major. You don’t have any formal training in creative writing either. But you read a lot. You can tell a good book from a lousy one. Also, you love telling stories. You make up stories in your head all the time. You can write a great book too, right?” “ Of […]
I started reading a new book yesterday, a collection of French poems, and I came across Sentimental Dialogue (Colloque Sentimental) by Paul Verlaine. I wish I had copied it because it was a beautiful translation. The translations I found online didn’t do the poem enough justice. I did copy one line and that was “Do you […]
Last week someone told me that poetry was the most complicated form of writing. “That’s why I spent my first two years as a writer writing only poems,” he continued. Is he right? Depends. Poetry is as complicated or as easy as you want it to be. Good poetry though … that’s a different story. […]
I read a wonderful passage in the introduction to Trigger Warnings by Neil Gaiman. Here it is: “… many peculiar places can hold your mind and your soul tightly and will not let them go … like the Isle of Skye. There are people who discover Skye and will not leave, and even for […]
I started reading Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman today, a collection of short stories and poems. Beautiful writing style. Beautiful story-telling. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to read the whole book. I can’t read any stories that have elements of horror in them. Stories that are too dark. Or creepy. What others find scary but […]
Yesterday I wrote about my first reading of T.S.Eliot’s The Waste Land and how I felt about it once I was done. If you read that post, you already know the answer. In a word? Dumb! You also know that I decided to go back to reading it the following day. This time I went […]
One of the members of the writing group I belong to is really smart. He’s also a big fan of T.S.Eliot’s The Waste Land. I’m always curious about what other people are reading, so I went to my favorite bookstore and got a copy of T.S.Eliot’s poems. I settled myself comfortably in my favorite spot […]
A little while ago I wrote about some writers’ smack talk … or trash talk, I found in An Insider’s Guide to Publishing by David Comfort. At the time, I found it pretty funny. I read it again tonight and guess what? I still found it funny! Not only did that post make me smile, […]
I’m reading The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante. It’s a good book that covers the basics of creative writing. Here is one of the passages that caught my attention. It talks about the importance of finding your real, unique voice. About the importance of avoiding the “writerly voice”. This is how Alice LaPlante puts […]
Ada Ireland is a pen name I came up with for myself. Unashamed Writing is a name I came up with for my blog.
The pen name is fake. The writing on this blog is real ... as close to real and truthful as I can get it to be. Read More