Webbing

    The first thing I do when I’m stuck is web. Although I usually love to web, the activity isn’t appealing when I don’t feel like writing. So sometimes I have to set the stove timer for ten minutes and make myself web. It’s amazing how powerful this tool is. Once I had writer’s block because someone I loved had died. I was facing a deadline on a novel and writing was the last thing I wanted to do. One morning I took my notebook to the coffee shop and made myself web for ten minutes. I gave myself permission to depart from the novel for awhile. I could write about anything. Ten minutes later I had an idea for a picture book. And the odd thing is Skinny Brown Dog is a light and humorous story. It’s hard to believe it was born from grief.