The Cruelty of Fiction Writers
September 10, 2025My teen boy protagonist is about to suffer. I am going to see that he does. As written right now, Jack’s rented horse, Thor, causes some inconvenience. But inconvenience does not make the compulsion to turn another page. As a reader, I sit up and pay attention when my protagonist, someone I really care for, gets into such deep trouble that I fear for his safety. I have to know how he gets through this. What decisions does he make? What skills does he bring to bear? How is he stretched? Will he defeat the bad guy? So, back to…
If We Can Admire Dutch Painting
I’m reading a poem a day, which is like working through the strangest Spotify playlist, curated by someone with curious taste. Some do not appeal, some are incomprehensible, but a few are gems that become my own…
A Joy for Ever
As I rode my bike this morning I knew I was experiencing that rare gift: a perfect day. These are the long idyllic days of Vermont, when the sun saunters up the vast parabola and down to…
Telling a Better Story
I am typing at my desk at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, in Black Mountain, North Carolina. (If any bad guys are reading this, I’ll have you know I left behind the forester. Don’t let…
8 reasons to keep a five-year memory book
Nine years ago I started my first one-year journal. I’m grateful for eight reasons. 1. Confining thoughts to four, five, or six tight lines requires the writer to be succinct and brief, a habit that has benefitted…
How dare you?
I should write what I know. What qualifies me to get in the head of a boy?
