My writing buddies know that I agonize about writing from the viewpoints of characters that are not me. I constantly question whether I have the right to write about a Jewish character who isn’t Reconstructionist or at least Conservative. But Reconstructionist Judaism is a tiny percent of Jews, who are a tiny percent of the…
Category: Writing
At the Broken Places
We’ve been traveling while the house is being renovated. We’re back in Albuquerque now, but just for a bit and then we’re on to Santa Fe, one of the world’s most wonderful cities. Meanwhile the house continues to be renovated. It’s been a challenge to do artwork on the road without my lovely big monitor…
Enneagram Subtypes and Characters
One fascinating part of the Enneagram are the “subtypes.” I’ve heard subtypes described as the part of Maslow’s Hierarchy that we are most concerned meeting. (And the numbers are our strategies for meeting them.) There are three subtypes, or instinctual variations: Self-Preservation (Preservers), Sexual (Transmitters), and Social (Navigators). Self-Preservation-focused people are primarily concerned with the…
Options Block
My designer asked me yesterday whether I’d made a decision on what elements I wanted in something we’re ordering for the house. I hung my head and confessed that I have “Shopping Block” brought on by difficulty writing. His assistant smiled and said she understands perfectly. She’s a writer as well. There is a point…
A Fresh Start
I’m returning to writing my blog. It’s been more than two years of heartbreak and struggles with writing. It’s clear to me now that I can’t simply wait for a better day to write. I have to start today with this little blog. So that’s what I’m doing. My plan is to write a short…
Setting the Table With Myself
I’m thinking today of Robert Mapplethorpe, whose prints caused such tumult in the 80s and who I admire for taking his own path in the world of art. So often we censor ourselves. Or at least I do. Mapplethorpe famously didn’t. I have to ask myself who would I be if I were fearless? Who…
Mistakes Can Be Beautiful!
It’s been a busy, but a fairly good week. We finished another gaming article which will soon be coming to a Kickstarter near you. I’ll let you know when it is available. We are working to incorporate the playtester’s changes to Biremes and Triremes, our book-sized gaming supplement. We hope to complete the edits by…
Shadow Sister
I like to think of the author of my secret projects as my shadow sister. She moves capably in the shadows like an assassin, ably dispatching writerly doubts as she produces her stories. But one other way that she stays in the shadows is that I haven’t created an identity, a web page, a presence…
Channeling Lightning
When I was about twelve years old my parents took us to a friend’s house for dinner where all of us tried vegetarian food for the first time, learned about their friends’ passion for meditation, and saw their sprouts. I was enchanted by the food (which consisted of a very, very fancy peanut butter and…
The Toddlers Inside
I just wrote a letter and as I wrote it, I realized something profound. It’s not so much that my Critical Voice is out of control, it’s that I’ve developed a very finely tuned instrument to persuade people without offending them in writing. It’s something I’ve practiced and done well at, both in work and…