by Marilyn | Aug 11, 2018 | Writing Intention
Dear writing sisters, At the start of my Virtual Writing Retreats, I like to hold a space for participants to set their personal writing intention. I also like to set a group writing intention as a way to keep us unified and connected—to really ground us into the...
by Marilyn | Dec 6, 2016 | Conscious writing, Writing Intention
Some years ago I ditched New Year’s resolutions, which felt more like giving up something for Lent—i.e., depriving myself of something I wanted—than evolving myself into the person I wanted to become. In place of making a resolution, I began choosing a “word of the...
by Marilyn | Apr 20, 2016 | Conscious writing, Sexism, Silencing, The VIDA Count, women's literary history, Writing Intention
Culture does not make people. People make culture. If it is true that the full humanity of women is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie VIDA: Women in the Literary Arts is an organization that works for...
by Marilyn | Dec 1, 2013 | Conscious writing, Gratitude, Writing Block, Writing Intention
When I was growing up in a largish Catholic family in the 1970s my mother led us in grace every night at the dinner table. We would press our hands together like a steeple, fingertips to our noses, bow our heads, close our eyes, and recite “Bless us O Lord, and these...
by Marilyn | May 29, 2013 | Conscious writing, Truth, Writing Intention, Writing Time, Writing Women's Lives
This past March, while at AWP’s annual writing conference, I received confirmation that the tumor removed from my left breast two weeks prior was in fact cancerous. The cells were early stage and noninvasive, but the surgery had not yielded a clean margin. A month ago...
by Marilyn | Jan 20, 2013 | Writing Intention
I sometimes wonder how many women writers aren’t writing because the inner critic—that blatherer Virginia Woolf dubbed the Angel in the House—has been chattering on autopilot for so long its judgments drown out the writer and her voice. One insidious problem with the...
