Essays Archives - From the Write Side

Love Notes

Fab February is here, the shortest and, perhaps the dullest, of the calendar months. Except for the cultural touchstones that keep it interesting -- Valentine's Day, President's Day, National Heart Month, and the birthdays of those we hold dear. For writers like me, the month is an uninterrupted span of days to draft, revise, revisit, and polish existing work and to read and research for future endeavors. There is also, for football fans, the Super Bowl. Now, if my team isn't in it, I have [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-01-31T17:50:35+00:00January 31st, 2023|Essays|0 Comments

The Writer’s Way

Every season has a rhythm, an underlying purpose that drives the land and we who inhabit it. Take a moment to think about the rhythms you bring to each change, the cleaning and organizing, the planning and preparations. Just as the land scours itself in spring and fall, so do I. Just this week I finished the grand reorganization of my library, alphabetizing all the books shoved on top of the existing volumes and culling from the shelves those that wish to migrate to other [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-10-12T20:44:28+00:00September 30th, 2022|Blog, Essays|0 Comments

September Blog: Time For A Hobbit Journey…

When the leaves begin to fall and the prairie turns brown and gold, I stare from the porch, unable to resist the urge to strap on a backpack and wander into the unknown. Amid the demands of life in the 21st Century, there are days I wish a wizard would turn up at my door, invite himself for tea, and invite me to go adventuring. Of course, our suburban lawns and urban landscapes rarely lend themselves to such fanciful walks, but the mind is a [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-08-31T17:15:03+00:00August 31st, 2022|Essays|0 Comments

Digging Myself Up

No way to sugarcoat this truth, for me personally, it's been a shitty summer. Three rounds of antibiotics for various unusual infections followed by a Mohs procedure (www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/mohs-surgery) for skin cancer that ended up costing me most of my left nostril and resulted in complicated facial reconstruction, which is not over yet. If my last name were Scrooge, I'd scream Bah, humbug! The combination of these events entombed me in a very dark hole. I've been digging myself up ever since. For a flaming [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-07-31T17:04:33+00:00July 31st, 2022|contemplative, Essays, inspirational, motivational, philosophical|0 Comments

July Blog: Sometimes I Just Want To Run Away…

READY? What's that old line about "the world being too much with us"? Sometimes the obstacles laid along the road create a wall too high to scale. Sometimes they force us to confront truths we would rather avoid. If you're a little like me, maybe they cause you to contemplate, if only for a moment, running away, and summer provides the opportune moment to try a faux escape. After all, it's July, summer's highpoint in the northern hemisphere. In this month of heat, humidity, and [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-06-30T15:36:54+00:00June 30th, 2022|Essays|0 Comments

It’s June…and Romance Is In The Air!

The absolute BEST prize for a writing contest is publication, and Central Ohio Fiction Writers have that. Sharpen your ideas, flex your fingers, and start writing! And pass the word to all your writing friends!

By irvinjgdm|2022-05-31T15:11:54+00:00May 31st, 2022|Essays|0 Comments

Mayhem

Ukraine means 'country.' Whatever happened to 'make love, not war'? Where do we go when madness rules the earth? And I think about the mothers... There comes a time in every woman's journey when she faces those two converging paths Frost wrote about...to be or not to be a mother. Instinct and societal norms provoke the desire. Individual goals and preferences incite the response. For me, the choice of family or career never arose, for I had selected a course that allowed for both. What [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-06-22T23:41:23+00:00May 10th, 2022|contemplative, emotive, Essays, inspirational|0 Comments

SPRINGING

Every year as March turns into April, I think about cleaning, and, sure, the house comes to mind. The dusting, scouring, airing, washing, and polishing remain secondary concerns to the tilling of the garden beds, the sowing of early crops like lettuce, spinach, and onions. My fingers literally itch to dig in. I find myself wandering from bed to bed, checking the new growth of perennials, pulling the pesky weeds already springing free of winter's hold. But my thoughts wander beyond these chores to the [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-03-31T16:04:07+00:00March 31st, 2022|Essays|0 Comments

How To Support A Writer

I've been writing essays for my blog From the Write Side for many years and have never had a guest article. However, recently I received the best newsletter from Michelle Halkett, Central Avenue Publishing, regarding how to support authors, and she very graciously gave me permission to reprint it here. Dear Janet, Publishing books is a tough gig. It's a roller coaster that spans the Everest-level highs of getting a bestseller to the Marianas Trench lows of variable cash flow or lost deals. I [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-02-28T17:02:05+00:00February 28th, 2022|Essays|0 Comments

The Heart of it All

Once upon a time, the slogan for the Buckeye State was "Ohio...the heart of it all." While the P.R. guys and gals have moved on from that catchy phrase, I find myself returning to it this February...not for the state but for myself and my passion. What, I ask myself, is the heart of my writing? Here's what I came up with... 1. exploring the motivations that prompt human actions, good or bad 2. optimism...despite the chaos that threatens our world 3. a belief in [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-01-31T17:19:51+00:00January 31st, 2022|Essays|0 Comments