Mary Shelley's classic, Frankenstein, is really an allegory. It's the parenting memoir she couldn't write. Parents of pubescents... follow me. Victor builds what he hopes will be a beautiful, incredible masterpiece. He works tirelessly on his legacy. So intent on accomplishing his ends, Frankenstein doesn't ask, "Should I?" Sounds like many parents I know who …
Category: Personal Journey
The Only Resolution You Need: Be Resolute
Resolute: 1. marked by firm determination 2. bold, steady. In a fit of New Year's zeal you wrote a bunch of resolutions. And in a fit of cold reality already broke at least one. Now you're starting 2017 as a failure. Why even bother with the rest? New Year's resolutions are like trains. One car …
Friends & Family: My Favorite Gifts
For years I've sent a Christmas letter, but not this time. Find your name below for my "card" to you. This list cannot possibly contain every one of the people I consider gifts, but as I contemplated whether or not to send the usual card this year, it felt more right to talk about …
Be the Gift You Want to Get in This World
Of all the people turned off by Christians, Gandhi is my favorite. Gandhi was perplexed that Jesus' followers were little crazed antitheses of Him, buzzing about the world scattering judgement like pollen, condemning, wearing the cross and forgetting its dictates. Though he was turned off by Christians, Gandhi didn't discount the Man himself. Imitation is …
5000 Words Writing Competition: Everyone Wins.
And not just in the sense of participation trophies. Everyone wins because they become confident and robust writers who don't shrink at the idea of putting their minds on the page. 5000 Words develops excellence in writing by combining the following elements: Read quality literature and analyze its structure, themes, and content. (Most recently The …
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Thankfulness: Just Do It
Thankful: conscious of a benefit received. I don't love their shoes, but I'd nominate Nike slogan creator Dan Wieden for the Nobel Peace Prize. Just do it--applied en masse could cure obesity, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and empty toilet paper rolls. The downside would be impulse marriages, divorces, suicides, and job walk-offs-- impulse suicides notwithstanding, the …
Don’t Forget the Little Car Accidents
I like telling you about my car accidents. The slaps of fate, I consider my teachers. So when life smacks me down and I taste the dirt, my natural response is to share what it tasted like. This isn't new. My very first attempt at voluntary writing (age nine) was an apology to the Almighty …
Don’t Forget Summer
Warning: This post is really boring. I wrote it in July and then left it in my drafts because I hated it. Then I re-read and decided it's worth remembering my 2016 summer. Still, unless you're slogging through your first novel or you want to remember my boring summer, you may want to scroll down …
Don’t Forget – What It’s Like Writing my First Novel
I've been toying with the idea of changing my novel around. This morning I decided to change the point of view from 3rd to 1st-- just to experiment. I've read many 1st person novels and loved them. Right now I'm reading We Were Liars by e. lockhart. If you want to hear a distinctive voice, …
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July… Don’t Want to Forget
July was NaNoWriMo month for me. I set a goal of 30K words, figuring a thousand a day would stretch me. Boy, did it ever. I consider writing a fun, yet precise and artful enterprise, but in NaNoWriMo the point is to get your story out as fast as possible. In the writing world this …
KL Griffiths 