Category Archives: Writing

The Joy of Writing

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Karen Whitelaw

A writer friend who is also doing the challenge of observing and writing down the details every day sent me this email, ‘It is quite  incredible the wandering paths my mind has taken just by writing in the moment like this.Today … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing, writing process | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Writing from the forgotten senses

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Karen Whitelaw

For three days last week the wind blew the rain horizontally. It pelted against the window glass and the drops sounded like someone throwing sharp needles. Last week I’d given myself a writing challenge: to write somewhere different each day, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing, writing process | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Love the Details

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Karen Whitelaw

Details should be more than a writer’s friend; details should be our lover. Get intimate, close up. Slow down. Examine him/her with intense and specific attentiveness. Details make the place in our writing real. Whether it’s travel, memoir, stories or … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing, writing process | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Living a Dream – Day 20

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Karen Whitelaw

Our last day in Menerbes. I was sitting out on the terrace this afternoon writing and someone in the valley lit a large fire. Australians tend to panic at the first whiff of smoke, but we’ve learned here that at … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel, Writing, writing process | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Living a Dream – Day 19

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Karen Whitelaw

If you’re living a dream, is it supposed to storm? With no lightning, just thunder that goes on for so long you wonder if Thor’s record got stuck? And rain clouds you’ve been keeping an eye on sneak down off … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Living a Dream – Day 18

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Karen Whitelaw

The morning started with an overcast sky and clear light. There was no mist in the Luberon and the overexposured sky was bought down a stop or two to grey. Daylight saving has ended. The sun and I now got … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Living a Dream – Day 17

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Karen Whitelaw

Robert Dessaix’s latest book is called ‘What are days for?’ That question keeps popping up in my mind every day here. When I’m climbing up the old stone stairways worn in the middle from centuries of footsteps. Or walking through … Continue reading →

Posted in life, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Living a Dream – Day 13

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Karen Whitelaw

On the other side of the hill, behind these ruined walls, is Valaurie, a vibrant village of artists. The tiny cobbled laneways are winding passages and stone steps bordered by lavender, roses, flowering shrubs and artificial sunflowers. The houses, many … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Living a Dream – Day 12

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Karen Whitelaw

On the side of the main road that passes Menerbes there’s a neolithic burial chamber. No one would even know it was there unless they were looking for it. It’s below ground level. We drove past twice before we saw … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Living a Dream – Day 11

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Karen Whitelaw

Virginia Woolf believed a woman needed “money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” While she got the money bit right – one has to eat – I’d give up the room of my own … Continue reading →

Posted in women, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments