Karen Swortzel

Poet and writer, with a love of Appalachia and of travel

[Karen Swortzel @kswortzel]

Such a lovely human and skilled wordsmith.

[adam j. gellings @adamgellings]

Had a great visit today from guest author Skye Jackson with our July group in Paris for a craft talk & discussion about her latest collection LIBRE.

Reminder that registration for 2027 is open! Limited spots available—more info here:

https://t.co/W1m0a58FRK

[rita quillen @hillbillypoet]

Oh, I am retweeting the heck outta this.....

[Titania @TitaniasRealm]

According to Scandinavian folklore, Midsummer is one of the most magical times of the year.

It was believed that if you picked seven different wildflowers on Midsummer's Eve and put them under your pillow, your future love would appear in your dreams that night.

🎨 Heidi Kosenius

[Ryan B. Anderson @OldHollowTree]

Man, naturally blue bread. Can you believe it? What a time to be alive.

[Daniel Pink @DanielPink]

Experiencing complicated art can make you more creative — even if you don’t enjoy it in the moment.

[Titania @TitaniasRealm]

"Sorry I can't, I have plans"

The plans:

[The Best @TheBestqueenx]

Bees are the quiet heartbeat of life on Earth.

[Jeremy Wayne Tate @JeremyTate41]

This is the best preserved medieval street in Europe.

Recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, The Shambles in York, England has had shops trading on it for nearly a thousand years. It's older than the Crusades.

[Erik Larson @exlarson]

Fabulous photo.

[Karen Swortzel @kswortzel]

@adamgellings Yes!!!

[Karen Swortzel @kswortzel]

@ronsterd89 They must be blind.

[Karen Swortzel @kswortzel]

@orsonscottcard The USA needs to finish this since we have Middle Eastern support. This is a hill to die on.

[Orson Scott Card @orsonscottcard]

“How can I get a quick start on writing a new book?”

Embrace cliches. You don't have time to develop your characters or milieu, or set yourself any challenges as a writer. Getting crap on paper is your primary goal. Still, try to do a good job of writing — snappy dialogue, quirky minor characters, a compelling dilemma (to which you already know the solution).

Writing better takes a little longer. Invent more deeply. Complicate your storyline. Disguise your use of commonplace tropes. Your goal was to start quickly — but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to create a positive reading experience.

As for the topic? Choose a character who suffers greatly, undergoes great challenges, and doesn't die. Set her in a milieu that you know well enough to write without much research. Create a few characters who do not just exist for your convenience, but have agendas of their own. Give your main character a reason to keep going despite all dangers and risks. Give your main character a job. Even if she hates her job, we need to see her working.

[Karen Swortzel @kswortzel]

@Mishi_2210 127

[Orson Scott Card @orsonscottcard]

Being “rich” is a relative term. If everybody's rich, nobody's rich. No matter how rich you are, somebody's so much richer than you that by contrast, you are poor. The equation’s the same, only inverted, for being poor. There's always somebody worse off than you, compared to whom, you're rich.

The hardest thing to have is “enough.” But for those who believe they have enough, rich and poor are descriptors for other people only. Sufficiency is the true means of being comfortable. In the Lord's Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” is a prayer for enough.

Seeking to be rich is a denial of even the concept of enough. It is wealth that never gets over the fear of poverty. It cannot be satisfied. And for those with enough, it is not envy, but pity they feel for those endlessly hungry “rich.”

[Karen Swortzel @kswortzel]

@Amelia558rs C

[Karen Swortzel @kswortzel]

@lippyent Gentle Ben

[Karen Swortzel @kswortzel]

@RightPulseNewss It's 2, but the English teacher in me wants to say 0 because "pichnic" is misspelled at the end. Nobody went on a picnic, but 2 went on a picnic.

[ANNE LAMOTT @ANNELAMOTT]

My current husband @NealFAllen and I have written a book on writing for everyone who has been writing for a while, or wants to start writing a novel or memoir or anything at all. You can buy it at your local bookstore on March 17 but can pre-order at: https://t.co/m8ddKkU5DS

[Philosophy Quotes @philosophors]

“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”

— Ernest Hemingway