On an old Curly Girl greeting card taped above my desk, a woman’s red-fingernailed hand wraps around a vintage microphone. Artist Leigh Standley’s caption sprawls above the illustration: “Find Your Voice.” Find. Your. Voice. Weaned on this advice, we fiction writers know that when an otherwise well-built narrative lies comatose on the page, only a… Read more »
You know that feeling of flow when the burden of time lifts from your shoulders and something comes not from you, but through you? This flying-flow-feeling is as close as I’ve ever gotten to understanding why I’m here and who I am. I will do whatever it takes to get back into that flow and… Read more »
I was first introduced to Salman Rushdie in a college literature class where we read Midnight’s Children. His novels usually combine historical fiction and magical realism to explore heavy personal, political, and cultural themes. While Rushdie’s writing is not an easy read, he’s become one of my favorite writers. After reading his memoir, Joseph Anton,… Read more »
Certain words keep writers up at night. They live in the darkest corners of the dictionary and carry with them anxiety and dread. For me, one is particularly ominous. Quitter. Let’s be honest. Writing is swimming upstream with a thousand pounds of hope, expectations, and manuscripts strapped firmly to your back. Publishing is a subjective… Read more »
Hi, writers! Today, I want to talk about some of the strategies I use to generate ideas and inspiration, especially when I have a deadline to meet. Before starting grad school, my “writing schedule” typically involved waiting around for the perfect idea to strike. I didn’t have a set writing schedule, and I spent a… Read more »
We all play games. We use games to break the ice, pass the time, or as a buffer in awkward family gatherings. I use games (especially tabletop games) to make new friends, and deepen my understanding of the people in my life. Games show people at their best and at their worst. They reveal hidden… Read more »
As authors we are always on the lookout for ways to improve our craft—to help our writing rise above the slush pile and connect with readers. And once it’s in readers’ hands, we want our work to ring true, to stick with people long after they put it down. We read articles, watch webinars, scour… Read more »
Do you feel battered and bruised after a writing session? Does your mind and body ache? That’s because writing is a sport. You must commit to it, train for it, and love it even when you hate it. All athletes start at the same place. They find a sport they love and work towards improving… Read more »
We all read them. We all send them. Some of us have thousands of them hanging around. That’s right, today, we’re going to talk about how to edit an email. Editing personal and business correspondence is a bit different from editing creative work. Let’s take a look. Your Mindset The first step when you edit… Read more »
Well, it’s August, and that means we’ve passed the halfway mark for the year of 2021, and boy, am I looking for ways to revitalize my practice after losing writing steam. Those new year’s goals are far behind me, plenty laying littered and broken along my yearly writing journey. I’d love to say my passion… Read more »
