Rejection letters are commonplace in the world of literature. If you’ve written anything and submitted, I’m sure you have one, or two – or like me – more than you’d care to admit. Personally, I like to call rejection letters toilet paper, it’s just a little more fitting of a title, isn’t it? But I digress. When you began your trek into the world of the literary arts, you probably were sure of one thing, you’d write a masterpiece, you’d … Read More »

With social distancing and sequestering still high on the priority ladder, it might be a good time to dig through the closet/flash drive and unearth that writing project you’ve been meaning to finish or thought was so bad that it was beyond repair. Dust Them Off! Pull those unfinished projects out and see which one jumps to the head of the line, begging for your attention. Give it a new, fresh view and the attention it deserves to get it … Read More »

It’s the new year, and people are thinking about resolutions, changing their lives, and expanding their horizons. Those are great goals to aspire and work toward. I’ve even been working on a few of my own in various parts of my life. Then I wondered how I could apply those lofty ideas to my writing. Organize How is the plot moving along? Are scenes jumping around like popping corn or fireworks exploding in the night sky? It might be a … Read More »

It’s a tricky business, writing. A writer wants, and needs, to write. If only life were that simple. These days, a writer has to be so much more…editor, formatter, agent, marketer, webmaster, publicist, and many times a publisher. The days of writing a story and handing it off (so you can get started on the next one) are pretty much a thing of the past. How can one person keep it all going? It’s not easy, but perhaps there’s a … Read More »

The writer’s group to which I belong recently instituted a new practice, which doesn’t replace but enhances our reading of our works in progress. At every meeting, one of us provides the group with a prompt—an image, a few words—and we all create some short work inspired by it to submit for critique at the next meeting. The variety of “takes” on the prompt is always stunning. Some are serious, some are lighthearted. This person may submit a poem, another … Read More »

Let me tell you the true story of two writers who have many things in common—and one important difference. Both writers had completed first drafts for mysteries with an edge of romance. They are both avid readers with little writing experience or instruction. I had the privilege of doing manuscript evaluations for them. This was the first attempt at a novel for both of them. They had created interesting female protagonists and stories with great potential, and they both demonstrated … Read More »