Writer's Tools

Gina Greenlee, Author

Jan 9
4 min

Writer’s Toy: Cut-Up Machine:

Take a finished and fully linear text. Cut it in pieces with a few or single words on each piece. Rearrange the resulting pieces into a...

Hatching an Idea is a Lot Like Baking Bread

Gina Greenlee, Author

Aug 28, 2022
1 min

Hatching an Idea is a Lot Like Baking Bread

“Hatching an idea is a lot like baking bread. An idea needs to rise. If you poke at it too much at the beginning, if you keep checking on...

Gina Greenlee, Author

Mar 7, 2022
3 min

Recipe for a César Vallejo Poem

In 2007 I took a poetry writing course at the Omega Institute for Holistic Health in Rhinebeck, New York. My key takeaway from that...

Literary Fashion: Formula 5 Batch System Writing

Gina Greenlee, Author

Jan 22, 2022
1 min

Literary Fashion: Formula 5 Batch System Writing

Reading, writing, clothing design, playing with ideas. My Literary Fashion series combines them all. First on the “catwalk” is Formula 5:...

Gina Greenlee, Author

Nov 21, 2021
3 min

You’ve Finished Your Novel. Now What?

That smile is a beautiful place to start! Celebrate! You showed up for yourself. Rest. You’ve tried something new. Stepping out of your...

NaNoWriMo Week Three of Four: My Novel in Progress

Gina Greenlee, Author

Nov 13, 2021
1 min

NaNoWriMo Week Three of Four: My Novel in Progress

Here’s what’s happening with Sweet Fathom, my novel during this third week of NaNoWriMo. That’s because I’m writing a different novel....

It’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! Week One of Four

Gina Greenlee, Author

Oct 31, 2021
2 min

It’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! Week One of Four

Want to write a novel? You’re not alone. Each year, on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin their novel....

Gina Greenlee, Author

Oct 16, 2021
2 min

The Truth about Writing

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something–anything–down on...

In the ballroom at the Airport Sheraton Hotel…

Gina Greenlee, Author

Jun 27, 2021
1 min

In the ballroom at the Airport Sheraton Hotel…

“In the ballroom at the Airport Sheraton Hotel, a team of men and women sit inside separate booths, curtained off from each other. They...

“Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It’s what everything else isn’t.”

Gina Greenlee, Author

May 30, 2021
1 min

“Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It’s what everything else isn’t.”

― THEODORE ROETHKE It’s Not too Late or too Silly to Indulge Your Creativity Steampunk Chicken: Opening the Mind with Surrealist Art “The...

Gina Greenlee, Author

May 23, 2021
3 min

Lynda Barry Daily Image Journal

This blog post is an excerpt from my book, The Writer’s Toy Chest. In her book What It Is Lynda calls the Daily Image Journal “noticing...

Must You Write? Dig Deep Into Yourself for the Answer.

Gina Greenlee, Author

May 16, 2021
1 min

Must You Write? Dig Deep Into Yourself for the Answer.

German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke tells us: “This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write?...

Gina Greenlee, Author

Dec 13, 2020
3 min

Keep the Juice in the Lemon

When I was 32 years old I told a close friend that I wanted to be a professional writer. He said, “If you haven’t done it by now you...

Gina Greenlee, Author

Dec 6, 2020
3 min

Who’s Ready for 2021?

In a June 2020 blog post, I outlined goals for the remainder of 2020. I’m updating how I did here. Books June 2020 goal: Finish and...

Gina Greenlee, Author

Nov 15, 2020
2 min

In Joy

Joy is a conduit for procreative power. Want to write pain-free? Follow joy. For me joy includes the warmth of sun on my skin, its color...

It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect It Just Has to Be

Gina Greenlee, Author

Aug 16, 2020
2 min

It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect It Just Has to Be

One day in 2013, after a collage-making frenzy, I looked about my apartment at the tornado of art supplies and considered putting order...

Gina Greenlee, Author

Aug 2, 2020
2 min

Do It Like Dada

Gina’s 2017 Writing Journal: From the walking trail in route to the parking lot, I heard children’s yelps in the playground to my left....

“The arts…are a very human way of making life more bearable…”

Gina Greenlee, Author

Jul 20, 2020
2 min

“The arts…are a very human way of making life more bearable…”

“Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake.” –Kurt Vonnegut, Jr In the...

How Visual Art Practice Advances Writing

Gina Greenlee, Author

Jul 12, 2020
2 min

How Visual Art Practice Advances Writing

A year-long journey in Expressive Arts Training in 2011 helped me to understand how my writing benefitted from varied art modalities such...

Gina Greenlee, Author

Mar 22, 2020
1 min

Got a Minute? Write Your Memoir

In these 10, one-minute videos you have everything you need to start – and keep writing – your memoir. Letterip!