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 »

Whether you’re stressed about the quarantine, the state of the world, or you’re exhausted from home schooling small children, it’s hard finding the time to sit down and indulge your artistic side. Maybe you recently lost your job or had your hours cut at work, so now you feel guilty about dedicating a few hours a day to your writing. Instead, you feel compelled to apply for jobs or find new ways to make money. The truth is you aren’t … Read More »

It’s October, that time of year where our fears come out to play. It’s also the perfect time to face our fears as writers. How do I know what your fears as a writer are? Let me begin with a story. During my first few years as a professor, I was lamenting with a colleague up north about the job. Rather, it wasn’t the job that was the source of my anxieties, but my own feelings of inadequacy and fears … Read More »