Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world. This is our 24th year of praising poetry in April. The poet and physician William Carlos Williams (1883 – 1963) expressed poetry’s value this way: “It is difficult / to get the news from poems / yet men die miserably every day / for lack / of what is found there.” … Read More »

I don’t know about you, but my writing has gone downhill since COVID-19 starting making its ripples felt here in the good ‘ole US of A. Within days after spring break, my university closed its doors to in-person instruction, and I’ve had to transition my entire curriculum to an online format (a rather arduous task, I might add.) On top of that, I’ve been busy with everything related to COVID. It’s been an exhausting few weeks and the uncertainty of … Read More »

While we are all stuck in our houses and busy stressing out, wouldn’t it be great if there was a quick way to improve your health with the tools you already have at home? There is, and it’s not just free weights. It’s free writing. If you have a pen and paper or a keyboard you have everything you need. We have thirty years of social psychology and physiological data to prove that simple journaling can have an immediate positive … Read More »

We’ve entered a sudden new reality which will dictate our lives for a while. Certainly for weeks, maybe months. Maybe more. A switch flipped and we find ourselves in strange times, careful of how we move, touch, work, eat, and—well, just about everything. Many of us are self-quarantining. We think about what it all means. Many of us will express those thoughts in our fiction and poetry. A classic novel of the 19th century provides one writer’s unflinching approach to … Read More »

Writers often have a precarious relationship with their muses, fearful of anything that might stifle that creative spark. But, writing shouldn’t be left to the random visits of some whimsical muse, but rather it should be ready to take advantage of those visits. Having a list of tips and tools to support your writing life will ensure that your writing will be both productive and effective. The first tool you need is a roadmap. Writing is a lot like a … Read More »

I bet you’ve heard stories about writers who hoard their best writing advice, or how opportunities are snatched up jealously and the names of contacts never shared. This may be so in some writing circles, but it hasn’t been my experience. Most writers I know tend to give their all at presentations, in critique groups, and on blogs, etc. This has allowed me to joyfully learn at the feet of others, fill notebooks with writing advice, connect folks with each … Read More »