Writing LifeTag
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July 06, 2021
The Listener in the Work: How a Sense of Address Can Transform Your Writing
Who is the “speaker” in your poems talking to? Is there a listener within your story? Who is the narrator’s confidante? I’ve been thinking a lot about a sense of address and I’ve come to believe ...
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June 30, 2021
Brain Fog: An Essay
Brain Fog: An Essay[1]“I am…” I type.But then a thought fords the sentence. My fingers hover above the keyboard, like soldiers awaiting a command. I have… forgotten something. But what?I can ...
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June 29, 2021
How a Filipino Breakfast Changed My Writing
June is Filipino Heritage Month, and to close out the month and my time here as writer-in-residence, I wanted to talk about Filipino breakfast. Specifically, one that influenced both my novel and my life.The ...
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June 26, 2021
What Makes a Good Writing Routine?
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm fascinated by other people's writing routines. Not only am I just a somewhat nosy person (as many writers are, I imagine), but I don't have much in the way of a ...
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June 23, 2021
5 Tips For a DIY Writing Retreat
Now that we're peeking around the corner at a post-pandemic world, I've been starting to crave a DIY writing retreat. I don't get to do them as often as I'd like, but there's something magical about blocking ...
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June 19, 2021
On Writing Essentials
Much as I admire highly regimented and disciplined writers, that's simply not me. Believe me, I've tried! However, no matter how unstructured my writing day might be, there are five essentials that I ...
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June 05, 2021
When Research Influences Life
In my novel The Quiet is Loud, tarot cards form an integral part of the life of the novel's main character Freya Tanangco, a tarot reader. They serve as a career choice and legitimate outlet for her prophetic ...
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May 14, 2021
My Top Ten Tips for Making a Living as a Writer
Writing is a lousy way to make a living, but a great way to make a life, I said when I started this residency. I’ve been doing both for thirty years. So here are 10 points that I’ve learned about ...
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April 27, 2021
How Writing a Grant App Can Make You a New Person
This month I broke down while revisiting the statement for my Research and Creation grant app with the Canada Council for the Arts. I cried because I saw – for what felt like the first time in a while ...
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December 18, 2020
I Wrote 100,000 Words in a Month: Or When Productivity is Really Crip Grief
(This is not a ‘How To’ article. This is also not an inspiring story about a disabled person doing an extraordinary thing. There is nothing extraordinary here. There is only a dispatch from a place ...