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The Goodjelly Blog

On Whole Braining Your Writing Adventure

By Christine Carron

I once delivered a speech on the benefits of growing up with a mentally ill father. A main benefit I highlighted was that it spurred a lifelong curiosity about balance, health, and healing. I was (and am) a learning maven, churning through any idea for how it might help me...

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On Getting to Thrillsville

By Christine Carron

I couldn’t ride a bike until I was in my thirties. That’s not quite right. I could whiteknuckle ride a bike, but I didn’t know how to get a bike started or how to bring it to a stop without awkward hopping and massive inner panic that I might wipe out....

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On a Teacher, True Voice, and Trusting It Will All Come Together

By Christine Carron

In a time long ago at Saint Pius X High School in Festus, Missouri, once you hit sophomore year, you got Mr. Janc for English. Calm and spare in body, kind and spare in temperament. That’s how I remember Mr. Janc.

One day, he assigned us the classic and classically...

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On Shredding the Shoulding

By Christine Carron

When I turned forty, which was not long after I officially started my writerly journey, I decided it was time to do something with all the diaries and journals I kept since I was ten. There were boxes of them. Over the years, I dragged those boxes from city to city; I even...

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On Taming the Wire

By Christine Carron

In 2010, I got to attend Tightrope! A three-day workshop led by Philippe Petit. Yes, the same Philippe Petit who walked between the World Trade Center Towers in 1974. There were five of us in the class. No hiding in the back. I was getting on the wire. Slightly...

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On Story Music, Voice, and Redefining Writing Well

By Christine Carron

When I started as a writer, I set two intentions:

  • Write well.
  • Write to delight.

It took a couple of years for me to realize that the way I was defining writing well was messing with my ability to write to delight.

Writing to delight was all about creating a rollicking good...

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On Critiques, Conveyance, and Crystal Balls

By Christine Carron

One of the best ways to move your writing forward is to get it critiqued. Yet receiving feedback is a tricky business. Studies have shown that our bodies respond to feedback, especially critical feedback, as a threat. That kicks off a range of internal reactions—think...

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On Caterpillars, Butterflies, and Defending First Drafts

By Christine Carron

Imagine the following:

Situation #1
A new dad brings his baby to a dad’s group. When it’s his turn to speak, he turns his baby so everyone can see the child’s face and says, “Here's my sh*tty baby.”

Reaction of the other group members: Horrified.

...
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On Summer Camp, Dance, and Resisting the Rocks

By Christine Carron

Two summers in college, I worked at a summer camp for girls in Grand Isle, Vermont. New campers arrived every two weeks. When they got down to the dance cabin, the campers were surprised that I expected them to dance. Evidently, the previous dance counselor let them pick up...

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On Being a Sometimes Down But Never Out Unicorn

By Christine Carron

On the writing journey, one of two things is going to happen. 

Option #1: You’re going to be one of those magical unicorn writers who has an idea, gets the novel written and revised by the end of the following week, sends it to your dream agent the next day, gets...

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On Quiltgate and Story Utility

 By Christine Carron

When I was seven’ish, my grandparents brought me to a bingo event crowded with mostly old people. Though, to a seven-year-old, anyone not easily identifiable as kid age is old. So who knows for sure? Luckily, historical accuracy on that particular point is not...

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On Bulbing, Blooming, and Wacked Bulb-to-Bloom Ratios

By Christine Carron

Patience is the last of the five Goodjelly Moves, completing the circle of skills that help you ace the writing adventure. Here’s the tricky bit: You cannot do patient. You just are (or are not) patient. A truth that got me thinking about tulips.  

In November,...

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