Category Archives: writing

I have always been fascinated by old houses. I grew up in a beautiful Victorian house in New England, and I was forever on the search for secret passageways– I just felt sure the house had some great adventures hidden within. I never found a passage, but I did manage to lift the old heating grate out of my second-story bedroom floor and drop a bucket down on a string into the kitchen in the middle of my parents’ party. I’m pretty sure they humored me by filling the bucket with whatever my requested item was, but the real glory was that, thanks to the old house’s design, I was making adventures of my own.

That house was my home for so many good years. It was where we became a family when my parents got married and my dad adopted me; it was where my baby brother joined us; it was where I got into trouble with the babysitter, had a backwards birthday party, and fell in love with lilacs.

The themes of house and home are prevalent in writing because of their universal necessity and emotional resonance. Everyone needs a house for their body; everyone needs a home for their soul. The songwriters in today’s playlist explore life journeys, a sense of belonging or of missing, and relationships– all centered around the theme of house or home. For those participating in the link-up, explore a way “house” or “home” has been especially meaningful to you.

Thanks to my friend Caeli of These Lonely Walls for the inspiration for this week’s theme!

Listen:

Link up:

Let me know:

What are your favorite house or home songs?

I’ve been hard at work the past week writing my section introductions for What a Woman is Worth, and by that I mean, “having emotional breakdowns and hardly writing at all.” I am faced once again with ghosts of my past, and I will exorcise them– turn them from passive memory into active story, and I will be well– but the getting there is damned hard.

So this week’s theme is “ghosts.” For those interested in joining the blog link-up, take inspiration from these songwriters’ different uses of the ghost metaphor– a thing, person, or memory that haunts you; an emptiness or fear inside you; a love lost; a past to be left behind; an intangible longing. And keep in mind that ghost stories don’t necessarily have to be sinister or sad– there can be holiness raised from darkness, and spirit reborn.

Listen:

Link up:

Let me know:

What are your favorite ghost songs?

Last week I began Mixtape Mondays with the simple idea of sharing some good music here because music and writing are my hand-in-hand loves, and I know the same is true for a lot of the people who read this blog. But because I’m doing it thematically and because a big part of my job as an editor is helping people direct their thoughts toward better writing, I quickly realized the potential the series has to be a writing prompt. So I’m including a link-up at the bottom of the post for anyone who’d like to participate– just come back and add your link throughout the week.

This week’s theme is “covered.” All the songs in my playlist are covers where the artist has taken someone else’s song and reimagined it. The best covers bring something new to a song, whether through different arrangement, instrumentation, or vocalization. (I’m not a big fan of covers that sound almost exactly like the original– that’s called karaoke.)

The key to a good cover isn’t in being a copycat– it’s in bringing something of yourself to the piece so that it’s transformed.

So, for this week’s writing prompt, take a piece of writing– a poem, a Bible story, a folk tale, a song, anything that inspires you– and reimagine it. (You can check out how I’ve done this in the past with a poem and a parable.) Cover it with yourself, your story, your imagination, your perspective. And don’t forget to come back and drop us a link!

Listen:

Link up:

Let me know:

What are your favorite cover songs?