Martha Knows Everything...and You Should, Too

Lynda Barry is another inspiration. Artist, cartoonist, playwright, novelist, funk queen of the universe...and a damn fine writing teacher. Lynda lives near Chicago now, but her comic, which you can find at Marlys Magazine, is filled with her memories and dreams of her childhood in Seattle, where things were both amazing and terrible. She also recently taught at the Open Center in New York City, where she introduced our class to several key concepts:

1. No idea too small.

2. Handwrite! It works better.

3. The human brain has been telling stories for millions of years! Or maybe just thousands. Let your brain fill with images, and water ski behind them.

Lynda also does this wild, flowing sumi-e painting, which you can also catch of glimpse of on this lovely Web site. Lynda Barry remembers more about childhood than ten children have forgotten.

posted by Martha @ 10:35 AM