Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Posts tagged “North

Finding the Words Again

Posted on February 21, 2016

I lost my writing north like a compass with an old needle that lost its north-seeking ability. Now, you can do two things if that happens: you can throw out the compass – which would equal giving up on the writing dream – or you can fix the damn needle.   What did I do? I’m not ready to give up on any dream. I went out to find me some lodestone and re-magnetize the needle.   How? Usually, a writing prompt – or a few prompts if I slid down the slope too far – from one of my beloved Writing Maps will get the writing juices flowing again. This time I went on a Writing Safari with my best friend, author and creative writing coach Sieneke de…

Lost My North

Posted on February 19, 2016

I plowed through the tons of letters and invoices that gathered on my desk while I was away, I’ve done the laundry, I reconnected with my workout buddies Toni, Maria, Astarti and Anna. I sniffed up Amsterdam air. I plunged into a swarm of tourists diddling around outside my house. I bought tickets for the new Chagall exhibition. I witnessed a beautiful sunset from my fourth floor window.   The good news is I haven’t forgotten how to ride my bike.   The bad news is that I seem to have forgotten how to write, as if my compass lost its north.   I’ve written one word for my new project since I’m back at my desk: ‘It’. And then it all stopped, as if someone had…