Sunday, December 22, 2013

What should you be doing?


How many times have you said to yourself, “I should be doing … “

A)     Something productive
B)     Something lucrative
C)     Something else

If you’re like me, you’ve said it many times. But what if there is no such thing as “should?” What happens when you realize it’s meaningless? Well, either you do what you need to or you don’t, but getting hung up on “should” is a waste of time.

So ride out the end of the year without guilt or shame or embarrassment about what you “should” be doing. Enjoy the moment, and if you write something wonderful, that’s great. And if you don’t open a document between now and Jan 6, remember that guilt is a wasted emotion, so save it for your characters.

Write soon, (but don’t beat yourself up about it if you don’t)

Mary

P.S. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Tattoo You


Are you into ink? As a writer, is there any image that you would place permanently on your skin, like the head of Ernest Hemingway, or a lucky pen? How about your first acceptance letter or the logo of your favorite writing magazine?

Perhaps recreating the label from a bottle of wine would be a more fitting tribute. According to the June 2013 issue of Mental Floss, Dorothy Parker had a small star inked near her elbow as a “memento of a drunken night in the 1930s.” I only hope she wrote about it!

Write soon,

Mary