Tag: books

‘Shoveling sand into a box’

Jordan Peele and Shannon Hale on writing the first draft

Update: the quote attributed to Jordan Peele has often been attributed to another writer, Shannon Hale. I’ve amended the original post to reflect this other source.

A good friend (and friend of this blog) recently forwarded a newsletter from the Gotham Writers Workshop that included a quote from the brilliant comedian, actor, filmmaker, and writer Jordan Peele. (Note: since posting this and sharing on social media, I’ve learned the quote is also often attributed to author Shannon Hale. My apologies to Ms. Hale if I’ve attributed it to the wrong person.) This quote captures beautifully the messy process of creating a first draft. It’s so good, I need to share it with you all. And as I plow forward on my writing projects in 2025, I’m going to make this statement my mantra.

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The obligatory end-of-year wrap-up post you’ve been waiting for

The year in writing, recognition, loss, and life

If nothing else, 2024 for me was a year of transition and disruption. And — I hope — a year I learned to be more grateful and empathetic.

After 40 years of full-time work, much of it in academia, I entered a new phase of life last January. Some call it retirement, but it has hardly been that. My pursuit of creative writing and some freelance work has kept me busy enough. In addition, my wife and I and our cat had a couple of health scares that made us reevaluate our values and gave us greater insight into the workings of the U.S. health care system, the good, bad, and ugly of it. We also mourned the passing of a few friends from our church family and continue to honor their memory.

In other words, a lot of life happened in 2024. Here are some highlights from the year:

Continue reading “The obligatory end-of-year wrap-up post you’ve been waiting for”