We have all been there. You tried to make your flat characters in your short stories come to life, but they seem so bland, generic, and not likely at all to win the next contest you are about to enter. Or perhaps you just want to win a scholarship, which requires an essay that requires… Read more »
Growing up, we all read stories that ended with every problem resolved and neatly tied up with a bow. Damsel meets prince, they fall in love, they live happily ever after. Unfortunately, real life does not work like that. In real life, there are difficult, sensitive subjects and issues that may or may not ever… Read more »
Summer break means warmer temps, later nights, barbecues, popsicles, fireworks, swimming … and kids spending more time at home. While kids may love summer free time, parents sometimes struggle to adapt to the new family dynamic. In particular, writers can find it challenging to maintain their writing life with kids—and extra noise—in the house. If… Read more »
The setting of my debut novel, Blithedale Canyon, is Mill Valley, California, a small, leafy suburb just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. But though Mill Valley is a real place—and, as it happens, my hometown—I knew from the start that I wanted to treat it fictionally. In part, this meant that while… Read more »
I read a lot of nonfiction because I have an innate curiosity about the world and I enjoy learning things I didn’t know before. Whenever I want to learn how something works, I find a book. I especially love reading writers’ memoirs as a way of learning more about writing. While everyone is different and… Read more »
Consistency and prioritizing our writing are so hard, aren’t they? You would think it gets easier, but honestly, it just gets different. Here are five ways I’ve found helpful to maximize the time I set aside to write, and hopefully, something in here helps you too. (Hint: It’s all about developing a creative ritual!) 1…. Read more »
It seems like burnout is the new black. Everywhere you turn, people are talking about their experiences with burnout or exhibiting some pretty obvious symptoms. Writers aren’t impervious to the affliction. You can definitely deal with burnout in the traditional ways of alcohol and a good venting session with your friends. But there are other… Read more »
When I started to build a daily writing routine, I felt like the only thing keeping me company was self-doubt. Though I had set up my space with notes, books, a creative survival kit, and even a bulletin board of inspirational quotes, I felt like I needed a cheerleading team to root for me. If… Read more »
There is often a temptation to give your reader more than they really need, or, more importantly, want to know. For example, you describe a garden that is just coming into bloom and then go into minute detail about the flowers and trees. Your description includes the botanical names of three species from one genus,… Read more »
It seems like everyone has a side hustle these days. In fact, roughly 59 million workers did some form of freelance work in recent years and the number is estimated to reach 90 million by 2028. Though everyone is freelancing, it doesn’t mean everyone is a freelancer. On the contrary, picking up a side gig… Read more »
