Why we write : searching for beauty -- The thrill of discovery : writing your way into knowing -- In the weeds : discovering courage on the page -- Coming in hot : zipping out of your comfort zone -- Back in the saddle : cultivating resilience -- Echoes in the mountains : honoring the voices within -- Rallying your people (or your canines) : creating a writing community -- A lighter load : unpacking the writing life -- Lost in the woods : writing your way home -- Bushwhacking : digging for truer truths -- Finding your stride : toning your writing muscles -- Running uphill : surviving the tough climbs -- You can do anything for a mile : channeling your inner stallion -- The beauty of the question : embracing the wilderness within.
Summary:
"When you stray from a trail and strike out into the woods, you are bushwhacking. The term implies a physical thrashing about-pushing past branches, slicing through thickets, leaping across downed trees-but it also implies a certain fortitude and resilience to seek places unknown. In Bushwhacking, Jennifer McGaha borrows the term, likening it to what writers do when faced with the equally daunting blank page. Exploring the wilderness of your inner life means leaving a relatively comfortable place and going where no path exists. Writers face similar, unknown obstacles when forging a route to a final draft. Part writing memoir, part nature memoir, and part meditation on a life well lived, Bushwhacking draws on McGaha's experiences running, hiking, biking, paddling, and getting lost across the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina to offer readers encouragement practical suggestions to accompany them on their writing and life journeys. With humility, humor, and hard-won wisdom, Bushwhacking honors writing craft traditions and offers fresh insights into how close communion with nature can transform your writing and your life"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.