If you want to start a column or have been invited to do so, realize what you’ve taken on. You may envision tossing off at pizza fests or cocktail parties, eyes modestly lowered, “Oh, I’m a regular columnist for Extreme Quilting.” But … A quality column takes consistent effort, thought, and rewriting. Here are seven important considerations from my own column-writing and the advice of several column writers I interviewed. 1. Produce on Schedule The editor counts on you to … Read More »

I was mortified. After the editor accepted my short story “Casey,” in oxblood she highlighted an entire menagerie of unwanted editorial pets—words, phrases, and grammatical constructions. These favorites may be more subtle than the common ones we’ve all read about and probably used, like passive tenses and overloaded adverbs. Now I blushingly open the barn door for you and let loose my top four pet words and phrases so you can tame your own from “Stay” to “Delete.” And or … Read More »