Tool box stuff

A member of the writers group, Cindy, donated a couple copies of The I Ching for Writers by Sarah Jane Sloane, which is very cool. It's a good tool to have around for inspiration, but also just to improve your chops. It's good exercise to write something other than what you feel driven to write. Write from a purely intellectual place, and then get excited about that. Write from a voice you've never imagined using, like an old man or a child. Building chops. It's been really fun and interesting, and taking the exercises seriously will ultimately make me a better writer. That's a good thing.