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Writer's picturePenny Colman

On Writing

I’ve been bouncing between my “outside” and “inside” self, i.e., my “outside” is when I’m teaching, meeting people, giving speeches, signing books, i.e. externally focused. This week had many “outside” days, e.g. On Tues, I did my first book event for Thanksgiving: The True Story, a fun topic because it elicits wonderful reminiscences from the audience. My “inside” is when I’m immersed in my writing, e.g. doing research someplace, working in my basement-with-windows-writing space. Actually, the reality is that when I’m in the throes of writing (right now I’m deep into my joint biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony) my “inside” self is always “on”: to quote Linda–“They’re always with you, aren’t they?!” “Yes!” A couple of nights ago, I worked late & finished a chapter, however, periodically the ending “woke me up” to “chat” about whether or not it really worked–by morning I (“we”?) had revised the ending, which I then entered into my manuscript. As readers of my blog know, the ultimate test of whether or not something “works” is whether or not it “sets” me up to move forward–happily my revision did just that.

On another note: here’s a quote that’s particularly relevant for our times, I think. Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world. Dolores Huerta

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