Writer’s block sucks. There’s nothing worse than longing to put words to paper, motivation oozing from every pore of your body, but there’s no inspiration to launch those words into fruition. The frustration is palpable, bitter on the tongue. It’s hard enough to find those fleeting moments of euphoric drive, but to lose those to writer’s block is not only piercing defeat, but a mournful tragedy. What if I told you I had a sure-fire way to get over writer’s … Read More »

Have you ever wondered whether writer’s block is really real, whether it is a true psychological problem that many writers, including myself, often claim thwarts their attempts to freely write their hearts out on the page? I have. What does writer’s block feel like? It feels like a wall, some say, that blocks their path on the writing road, prevents them from moving around it to the other side where they’ve traveled before when they wrote. They say “We want … Read More »

Ask any writer for writing advice and most often you’ll get one of two words of advice. First, show, don’t tell. There are hundreds if not thousands of books and blog articles dedicated to this sage adage. The second piece of advice, however, often gets taken with that proverbial grain of salt – if you want to be a good writer, you need to read! Got it. Good writers read. But, what does that mean? With everyone gathering up their … Read More »

The economics and financial strains of our global pandemic crisis cannot be avoided. We’re all feeling it. If we’re fortunate enough to be employed, our situations have still changed. Many of our day jobs have transitioned to remote-location jobs. Except for journalists, by and large, writing has always been a remote job, so many of us already had a knack for adapting. If you write fiction, you may have already been able to write your stories without ever leaving home, … Read More »

Every few months I like to assess my writing and see where I’ve struggled. Did I have problems developing plot, creating relatable characters, or perhaps building a fantastical world? Where ever my struggles may lie, I choose one to try to improve upon. As an educator, I’ve come to appreciate that there are a few fundamental tricks when it comes to teaching (and thus, learning.) First, the same approach doesn’t work for all students, so approaching the material in different … Read More »

Lost in the murk of pandemic this April is our annual Earth Day. It shouldn’t be. The health crisis is the new baseline for discussion of almost everything, including environmental issues, and by extension, writing about environment. We all want COVID-19 to just go away and stop killing and let us get back to the business of living. Yet a captivating side effect of the virus has arisen. Earth, it seems, has gotten a chance to draw a breath. In … Read More »