Steve’s Blog
Writing is a powerful tool to greater self-understanding, but it’s a lot more than that: It’s a way of life. In founding the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods in 2013, Steve and Sarah were drawn to the challenge of taking the inspiring calm and natural beauty of their little swath of land at the end of Amigo Road and sharing that with visitors to help them energize their lives. The hope was that others could leave feeling a little closer to nature – and to themselves – and carry that feeling forward. In his regular blog, Steve explores the mysteries of writing, and of inspiring other writers, and he also delves into the delicate balance required to think less and feel more, to be excited by life but not let stress or time sickness poison our sense of the moment. Steve’s Blog is an effort to start a dialogue, one we hope you’ll take part in regularly.
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Steve’s Weekly Blog: Do You Love, Really Love, Your Words?
In reading, one should notice and fondle details. - Vladimir Nabokov Love, we all know, is not always easy. It means narrowing the gap, getting closer, dropping defenses, seeing yourself in the mirror of another, risking all and parting with illusions. To write well is to do all of these things and tango with language wherever that tango might take you. By "love" I do not mean…Read More
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Steve’s Weekly Blog: Pie-in-the-Face Book Reviewing
As for literary criticism in general: I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split. - Kurt Vonnegut Book reviewers get tired of tepid, damn-with-faint-praise, middle-ground writeups of books they…Read More
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Steve’s Weekly Blog: Stick the Landing
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. - Mark Twain A keyboard is a wonderful, liberating device, but in giving us speed it often deafens us to the power of silence. The more often a sentence or paragraph can end on a powerful note, deft and well chosen, the more the writing will inspire…Read More
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Steve’s Weekly Blog: Rewrite Tips from Mystery Author Cara Black
Hemingway recommended to write the draft, just plow through and get it down. Rewrite after that. I think that's so true because if you get something down it's easier to see the big picture, figure out what you were trying to say or highlight, and it's always easier to rework a lump of kneaded clay than not. - Cara Black If you want to be inspired by…Read More
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Steve’s Weekly Blog: Make Time Your Ally
Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone. - Alan W. Watts It's widely understood that a writer who leaves home and lives far away gains an edge when it comes to writing well about the world left behind. We assume geography is the only explanation for this added edge, but time might be just as important. Writers need time to take the fodder of their…Read More