Tammy Letherer, Author at

Updated on December 30, 2020April 22, 2019Leave a CommentResistance Storytelling

‘Keeping it Real’ Part 2

Last week, I wrote about how ‘Keeping it Real’ can be hurting your writing. I shared the reminder that if our goal as writers is to create dramatic action (and of course that’s the goal!) then we need to remember that fiction is not reality. It’s concentrated, intensified reality.

I told the story of my humiliating attempt, at age nine, to jump off the high dive at the local pool. Both that story and the idea of turning real-life events into fiction elicited some great responses that are too good not to pass on.

Updated on December 30, 2020April 9, 2019Leave a CommentInspiration News and Events Writing Life

Storm Warnings For Aspiring Writers

As I sit at my desk in Chicago, it seems surreal that less than twenty-four hours ago I was on a Florida beach with a rainbow stretched over my head. Actually, it was the second rainbow to grace me in three days, but when it comes to rainbows, you don’t count them, you simply stop what you’re doing and stare.

A rainbow moment is a right-brain moment, a burst of color and creativity from a higher realm.

Updated on December 30, 2020April 4, 2019Leave a CommentStorytelling The Buddha at My Table Writing Life

3 Ways to Enjoy the Givingness of Life

I was standing at my kitchen sink this morning, washing dishes and looking at an affirmation card I have stuck on my refrigerator that says the givingness of life never leaves me. It got me thinking.

First, I wondered, is “givingness” even a word? I looked it up and yes, it is, except in the Scrabble dictionary. I’m not sure what the Hasbro company has against givingness, but the more I focus on it, the happier I feel.

Updated on April 20, 2021March 26, 2019Leave a CommentCreativity Writing Tips

Could, Would, Should: You Only Need One of These to Write

I attended the Chicago Writers’ Association conference last weekend and, after two full days of workshops and socializing, I collapsed in exhaustion, both inspired and discouraged by all I learned.

Do you know the feeling I mean? Or, rather, feelings, because it was a stew of both excitement and self-doubt, bubbling between I can, I might, I will… and I could, I would, I should…

Updated on April 20, 2021March 13, 2019Leave a CommentMemoir Writing Life

It’s Time To Show Up For What You love

If you and I are connected on Facebook, you may have seen the post about my recent book signing at the Barnes & Noble in my hometown of Holland, Michigan. I shared a photo of the friends and family who came out and wrote, “You know that feeling you get when you bare it all in a memoir and your family not only still speaks to you, but applauds you…? Yeah, that.”

Updated on April 20, 2021March 4, 2019Leave a CommentCreativity Inspiration Storytelling Writing Tips

Why It’s A Mistake To Not Tell Your Story

Today I feel like writing about mistakes. Heck, I’m even open to making some. Not that I haven’t already made my fair share. From the workplace to the home front, as a parent, wife, or friend, my mistakes sometimes include big life moments and, other times, small sweaty details.

Updated on April 20, 2021February 11, 20191 CommentCreativity Fiction Inspiration

Why You Must Have a Rat in Your Story

What’s the secret to writing a scene that works? You may not know how to name it, but you certainly know when you read something that’s just meh, so-so. What’s missing? And what would it take to fix it? You might think good writing requires a mysterious balance of action, dialogue, setting, symbolism, and so on, and those things are all important. But there’s one fundamental ingredient that trumps all the craft in the world.

Updated on April 25, 2021February 5, 2019Leave a CommentCreativity Inspiration News and Events

Writing With a New Voice

On this cold and dreary winter day, I’m feeling warm fuzzies thinking about all the beautifully creative people in my life (yes, that includes you!). I love watching others express their unique visions and there’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing the seed of an idea take root and sprout into something tangible.

I also know that, sometimes, it’s hard to believe that our creative efforts will bear fruit. Projects can begin to look like the view out my back window: frozen, lifeless, dull.

Updated on December 30, 2020January 24, 2019Leave a CommentCreativity Storytelling

The Pleasure of Your Company is Requested (If You Want to Write)

Have you seen the video on Facebook about how people react when company comes? A comedian does a bit about how having company used to be such a treat. Mom would make a coffee cake, bring out the good china, and the family would eagerly gather in the living room awaiting the doorbell.

He contrasts this to today when the ring of a doorbell makes us flip off the lights, dive for the floor, or hide behind the curtains, peering out suspiciously to see who dares to drop by unexpectedly. The idea of interaction makes us cringe.

Updated on April 20, 2021January 14, 2019Leave a CommentMemoir The Buddha at My Table Writing Tips

Will Your Story Chain You or Set You Free?

On an ordinary Tuesday night in December, two weeks before Christmas, my husband of twelve years asked me to join him at the table, where he sat with a piece of paper and two fingers of scotch in front of him. He had three things to tell me: 1. He’d had an affair shortly after our marriage. 2. He’d been using escorts on business trips. 3. He was leaving me for someone he’d met and known for one day in Las Vegas.

Tammy Letherer

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