Today has been a light day, folks, but that’s okay. Seventh days are traditionally restful days anyway, and this has certainly been restful! (I slept late, AND I got a massage!) Besides, it’s the solstice, so I’m celebrating the holiday by chilling out. Happy Yule, everyone! That doesn’t mean I haven’t done any work, ofContinue reading “Winter writing retreat, day 7”
Author Archives: Samuel Snoek-Brown
Winter writing retreat, day 6
Today has been a quiet, rainy day (rainy even by Portland standards), which has been perfect for getting work done. It’s so quiet and cozy that I even came out of my study to write on the couch while my wife blogged beside me and the cats curled up nearby. Which is to say, IContinue reading “Winter writing retreat, day 6”
Winter writing retreat, day 5
Here I am blogging before I’m even finished writing, but today that’s because I’m enjoying a FULL day of writing and it’s not over yet. (My wife is entertaining company this evening, so I get to retreat to my study all night if I want to. Seriously: one of the most important things to any successful homeContinue reading “Winter writing retreat, day 5”
Winter writing retreat, day 4
I figured folks might find this post useful, so I thought I’d go ahead and write it before I get to work. Yes, you’re reading that right. It’s 10:30 at night and I’m just now getting to the writing. The plan today was to take the morning off — we had some errands to runContinue reading “Winter writing retreat, day 4”
Throwback Thursday: the very first words of Hagridden
I was digging through old files looking for notes I might use in my new novel, and I stumbled upon my old three-ring binder of Hagridden notes, all those articles and ideas I’d been compiling in the few years between my first idea for the book and my first draft of it. The binder mostlyContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: the very first words of Hagridden”
Winter writing retreat, day 3
I’m taking a short break from my writing retreat. Yes, I know, it’s 9:30 at night and I ought to be wrapping up, but I’ve always been a late writer, and given a free schedule — or other demands on my time — this is when I usually work best. I have to make myself writeContinue reading “Winter writing retreat, day 3”
Winter writing retreat, day 2
Today was a nice, long day of writing. I shut my study door a little after 9 am and didn’t come out again til lunch. Then I was back in the study around noon and I kept at it until my wife invited me on a short walk around the neighborhood at 4 pm. Which was aContinue reading “Winter writing retreat, day 2”
Winter writing retreat, day 1
My grading finished and my weekend over, I spent the last hours of Sunday night planning my writing time for this week. I say all the time how I’m not usually one for rigid writing schedules, but when I’m doing a writing retreat — even an informal one at home — having a schedule helpsContinue reading “Winter writing retreat, day 1”
Zen and the art of brutality; or, How can a Buddhist write such violence?
A lot of people read my fiction and tell me something like, “Wait. I thought you were Buddhist?” Even friends are sometimes surprised that I am (by intention if not always by action) so committed to compassion and nonviolence and the pursuit of enlightenment, yet I write such cruel characters, such violent events, such aContinue reading “Zen and the art of brutality; or, How can a Buddhist write such violence?”
A winter writing retreat
I’ve written before about how I don’t typically stick to a rigid daily writing routine. I generally work my writing into a crammed and constantly changing schedule of teaching, editing, committee work, housework, pet care, meditation, errands . . . . But I’ve also written before about how wonderful it is to have the time toContinue reading “A winter writing retreat”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 