dagblog - Comments for "On Writing Free and Brave"

Thanks so much, Emma. Yes,

Ramona — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 21:42:56 +0000

Thanks so much, Emma. Yes, please take care of yourself! It can creep up and attack when you least expect it.

Eudora lives! (forever and ever, I hope--even in ebooks.)

Very glad to know you are

EmmaZahn — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:51:45 +0000

Very glad to know you are okay after such a frightening experience. And thank you for posting. It made me treat my own bronchitis more seriously so I do not end up sharing your experience.

And thanks for the reminding me of Eudora Welty, a most excellent writer and a favorite of my mother. It is past time to re-read some of them.

Best wishes for a quick recovery.

I get scared from time to

Richard Day — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:16:03 +0000

In reply to On Writing Free and Brave

I get scared from time to time but I have stayed away from doctors for three or four years.

Prior to this period, I recall awakening in the hospital several times without having any idea how I got there. hahah

Every couple days I say I will not touch another essay on politics. It is all so inane. This poll says this and that poll says that; Mitt should do this and Barry should do that and...

Oh well, good for you and I am glad you healed up some.

Ten days from now I might actually ignore politics for awhile.

I'll pretend I didn't notice

Ramona — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 14:41:48 +0000

In reply to Unlike the others, I wish you

I'll pretend I didn't notice that you wish me to be sick a little longer. . .

But I do know what you mean. I'm surprised at how much I've let go because of this political obsession. The problem with blogging is that you feel you're always feeding a hungry beast. If you don't keep it full you'll be shut up in a cave, never to be seen again, and that's just not okay.

As I said, I don't want to give up my blog--especially now--but I do want to get out into the sunshine more, for the reasons you list. I do it now by going out on photo trips, but writing is my first love and that takes a whole different mindset. And quiet time. Which is what I've been needing and has now been forced on me. Could be a good thing.

Thanks, MrSmith. Really.

Unlike the others, I wish you

MrSmith1 — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 13:38:26 +0000

In reply to On Writing Free and Brave

Unlike the others, I wish you would stay sick a little longer.

Not because I wish you ill, I don't of course, and not because I don't enjoy reading your posts, on the contrary, I always do. I just want you to spend more time "filling your cup", finding the things that inspire your imagination and feed your creative soul. If it takes having you be sick a tiny little bit longer, than fine. I know that it will pay off for the both of us farther down the road.

Writers need to go out and fill their cup every so often. If all we do is write, or think about writing, we have nothing of ourselves from which to draw when we sit down and try to be creative.

So fire up your imagination. All else is secondary.

Thank you, Flower. From what

Ramona — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 13:02:36 +0000

In reply to So, that was why you'd been

Thank you, Flower. From what I've read of your writing you're more than capable of writing anything you want to. You really must keep up this momentum and get going!

I have two novels building up fuzzy mold in a bin now. One of them, "The Year of Lost Men", got me a state grant but I got scared off by the sheer ambition of it. (Half of my grant disappeared when Gov. Engler took it back as part of his austerity movement when he came into office.) It's a novel based on the 1913 copper strike in the Copper Country, and certain characters are based on family members. I love the concept and the characters but because I felt I had to do the story and the people up there justice and make it perfect, I set myself up for the inevitable failure.

The second book, "Modern Screen", is more lighthearted, but with a dark side. That one I still love but I've been away from it for so long I'm not sure I could get the feel of it again in order to smooth the transition from my writing then to my writing now.

Add to that folders full of never published short stories, poems and essays. If I wasn't such an optimist I might long ago have branded "loser" on my forehead.

This new one makes me laugh out loud and I actually think I can finish it! So my point is, never, ever give up. Most of the joy is in the writing, anyway, and as long as you can keep yourself free to be and brave enough to do, who knows where it will lead?

So, that was why you'd been

wabby — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 03:34:55 +0000

In reply to On Writing Free and Brave

So, that was why you'd been so quiet.

Glad to learn you are on the mend and you got the ride in an amber lance out of your system.

I look forward to reading your book. 'Tis a brave thing indeed, to write. Brave to admit it openly. You make me feel quite cowardly, Ramona. I have written a novel. Two, actually, and they have sat, finished, on a shelf because I am too much of a chickenshit to take the next step.

Now I have sat all evening, since reading your post, thinking about those dusty novels. Thinking very hard.

There's a good chance you have inspired me to be brave at last.

And I hope you will sign my copy of your book when you tour the country. Michigan first, right?

Thank you, Doc. I'm looking

Ramona — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 01:11:58 +0000

In reply to Thanks for the post, Ramona.

Thank you, Doc. I'm looking forward to finishing it.

Thanks for the post, Ramona.

Doctor Cleveland — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 00:27:51 +0000

In reply to On Writing Free and Brave

Thanks for the post, Ramona. Hope you're feeling completely recovered soon, and I'm looking forward to reading your book.

Don't ever wait around here!

Michael Maiello — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 23:31:28 +0000

In reply to Thanks so much, all. Caught

Don't ever wait around here! We thrive on spontaneity, especially yours.