Conversations with Calliope- Getting Personal

(Moonflowers)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Thinking about yesterday's post and realizing I shared more personal information than usual.
CALLIOPE: Is that why you had to think about it a while before posting?
JOE: It is.
CALLIOPE: How do you feel about having done so?
JOE: I think it's a step in the right direction. Writing in generalities keeps my writing impersonal and harder for readers to feel a personal sense of contact.
CALLIOPE: I think you might be right. What's leading you in this direction?
JOE: I'm still reading Julia Cameron's book, The Right to Write. She has been quite an inspiration to me.
CALLIOPE: How specifically?
JOE: She shares quite a bit about her personal life especially as it affects her writing. I feel a kinship with her I would like to establish with my readers.
CALLIOPE: Ah, she's setting a good example for you.
JOE: Exactly. I hope to learn more from her. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- The Right to Write

(Giant Caterpillar)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Quite well thank you.
CALLIOPE: What transpires?
JOE: I'm continuing to take stock of my writing and its place in my life.
CALLIOPE: A big order. How are you going about it?
JOE: I recalled that I had quite a few books on writing and decided to peruse them?
CALLIOPE: Find anything interesting?
JOE: Yes. Julia Cameron's book, The Right to Write.
CALLIOPE: Oh?
JOE: Years ago I read her earlier book The Artist's Way and found it quite helpful in directing my writing, focusing on its joys.
CALLIOPE: Isn't this a book for beginning writers?
JOE: Both books are actually. But I have learned that I am always a beginning writer if I approach it with a child's mind.
CALLIOPE: I've heard that expression. What do you think it means?
JOE: To me it means approaching a task with no preconceptions and being open to the experience on its own terms. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning, Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning, Joe. How are you feeling today?
JOE: Better I think whatever I had bugging me is receding.
CALLIOPE: Did you do any writing yesterday?
JOE: Yes. I worked on Marital Property but it was slow going.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: For some reason I was working on a chapter which involved a great deal of geographical and historical detail such as the Vineyard, Cape Cod and New Bedford.
CALLIOPE: It is extra work, but it should make the story more interesting.
JOE: I hope so. I finished a chapter of the husband's reflections which I had not even planned to write. Sometimes characters have a mind of their own.
CALLIOPE: Well, I must admit, I give them ideas sometimes. Did you do anything else yesterday?
JOE: I thought more about self publication and worked on putting the manuscript of The Pastor's Inferno into press ready format. I think I am getting better at using Pagemaker.
CALLIOPE: Have you given up on traditional publication?
JOE: No, but I haven't heard from anyone who could help me and I think I am getting prepared just in case.
CALLIOPE: I guess it's good to be prepared.
JOE: I guess the key to satisfaction in wirting is being flexible. Back to work.

(Beach rose- Nantucket)