Category Archives: The Pen Is…

Ana and Hana say goodbye to 2020 and ring in the ever so hopeful 2021. 2021 is greeted with further isolation due to the continuation of the pandemic which is not lost on Ana who is experiencing acute isolation and loneliness during the holidays. Not only is it the very first “pandemic holiday”, it isContinue reading “The Pen Is…Feeling the Holiday Blues”

Hana brings her story of a potentially haunted toy to a close and feels the satisfaction and relief of resolving an open task, while treating her character with respect. She discusses the pitfalls of perfectionism with Ana, the experience of falling prey to the allure of procrastination, and the repeated lesson that putting things offContinue reading “The Pen Is…Putting a Story to Bed”

Ana gets a confidence boost at work and Hana gives her high praise as Ana learns what her writing “jam” is – writing about nature connection and mentoring. Through Hana’s praise and curiosity about the piece, Ana comes to the realization that she can easily and smoothly write clear and concise instructions about how toContinue reading “The Pen Is…Finding Its Confidence”

Hana continues to offer support and guidance for Ana’s professional writing within her new position. In Episode 10, the Pen Is…Finding its Voice, Ana speaks about her struggles with writing her first blog piece. Now, a month later, Ana realizes that many of her writing fears and struggles from college are rearing its ugly head.Continue reading “The Pen Is…Learning to Blog”

Hana asks Ana for assistance after getting stuck halfway through her second scary story. Ana reads the excerpt aloud and the discussion goes into an exploration of anxiety, gaslighting, what it means to have mental health challenges, and how to write those aspects of a story responsibly. Ana helps Hana brainstorm some potential paths toContinue reading “The Pen Is…Stuck”

Ana has been gifted the opportunity to push her writing chops at her new job and is excited to share the process of writing her first professionally published piece. Ana’s co-workers help her to work through some of her writing challenges around structure and concise language by guiding her to use her strengths in writingContinue reading “The Pen Is…Finding Its Voice”

First up, a correction: This episode talks about a fish with a light on its head that it uses to lure unsuspecting victims, but that fish is called a lanternfish here when it is in fact an anglerfish *facepalm*. Many sincere thanks to Hana’s brother-in-law Cody for the correction AND the incredible artwork for thisContinue reading “The Pen Is…Exploring the Eerie”

After exploring writing a piece that uses only dialogue in Episode 5, Hana pushes Ana even further by challenging her to write a fiction piece that mixes dialogue and expository text. Ana – ever ready for the challenge, finds herself writing an emotionally laden conversation between two people working through a tense exchange. Ana surprisesContinue reading “The Pen Is…Allowing Emotional Acceptance”

After her last piece kept things deliberately vague, Hana committed to writing a piece that was heavy on the detail and specifics. This week’s piece is written from the perspective of a young woman unsure of her life’s path and wavering on a momentous decision: to have children or not. Hana blends her own experiencesContinue reading “The Pen Is…Pondering Motherhood in Detail”

In response to Ana’s prompt to write a fiction piece on an older person living out of the end of their life and how they’re addressing trauma they experienced earlier in life, Hana reads aloud her short description of a moment in time for Alva, her protagonist. Ana pushes Hana to continue working on theContinue reading “The Pen Is…Sitting at a Window”