Tag Archives: writing

Songwriting Course

Whether you are already writing songs or you’re curious about the process, join us on an 8-week journey in Zoom. Engage with other music lovers and learn the craft of composition. It’s the first and newest course of its kind! … Continue reading

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Seated marathon of words

“Support my fundraiser! Come to my soiree on the 22nd!” He invited me to play the grand piano or bring my ukulele group for a singalong to fundraise for his half-marathon in Jordan. I can do neither. I am already … Continue reading

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Remembering dad on Father’s Day

Today may be the first time I’m joining everyone else in cyberspace, to remember my dad on Father’s Day. In Mandarin Chinese, the word for father is “ba ba” which sounds like “eight eight” — thus the eighth day of … Continue reading

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The freedom and friction of fiction writing

“Pick up a postcard on your table and write your address on it. Take what you’ve learned in this conference and write to your future self. Which words of encouragement would you impart?” Among the postcards of city scenes and … Continue reading

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Anita Shreve, I never got to meet her

A pop-up window flashed “Anita Shreve dies at 71″ while I was on FaceTime. Suddenly, I felt a pang of regret. I’m attending a major writing conference in Boston next week. I’ve moved to New England, where Shreve had set … Continue reading

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Electric vehicles in paradise: the newspaper column that was

Four years ago, I started writing my first newspaper column: EV in Paradise for Maui Weekly, the free local paper with a website. A year later, funding for the electric vehicle project ended. The project produced several substantial reports: planning report … Continue reading

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The two Cs

My dad warned me about the two Cs when I was leaving home for college. “Beware of chemistry,” he said.

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Dad’s questions

I remember the day my father came home from his office in Yomitan-Son, Okinawa complaining that he and his colleagues had to learn how to use a word processor. It sounded like a major obstacle. Until then he seemed happy … Continue reading

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Writer’s block

6,000 words. Six thousand words. That’s what I have to produce this weekend. I keep putting it off. First I had to do filing. Pay my bills. Clear my desk. Next, I decided to install Sibelius, a process that took … Continue reading

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Creating

On the first day of a 5-consecutive day writing workshop, I learned to view writing as a process, not a product. To get started, we did free writing, which is a form of pre-writing to warm up. On a blank … Continue reading

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