Themes for the New Year abound. Commitment, focus, discipline, simplicity, gratitude, service...there are many ways to frame a reorientation of living. Here's the one I've settled on as a hub for the work of my various writing platforms. Thrive. Funny word, thrive. Makes me think of "hive." Which leads me to images of buzzing …
5 Positive Things Critique Can Do For You
I finished the 4th draft of my new play, and in spite of as much focused and deep work as I've done on a play and a group of characters, still missed the goal by a mile. (Well, maybe more like a half-mile, but still.) Not that there are not some good things about the …
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Don’t Forget What You’re Doing…
Sometimes, we forget. We wake in the morning and hope to find our way to the desk. We hope to hear from the manuscript in front of us that we are welcome, that our company is longed for, that the stroke of our hands will be healing and full of discovery. But maybe the sleep …
…Which Held All Possibilities
"Each sentence hung over an abyssal ocean or sky which held all possibilities, as well as the possibility of nothing." Writing used to be a sensual joy. It's more pounding now, more churning out material, wondering how to not get lost in the sea of sentences now ebbing and flowing in swift currents and tides. …
The Unmerited Grace of the Work
"At its best, the sensation of writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you look for it. You search, you break your heart, your back, your brain, and then--and only then--it is handed to you." --Annie Dillard, The Writing Life Odd isn't it, that there is work …
JEFF BERRYMAN 