On Writing Distractions: FakeFriends
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Committing to writing over the long haul means writing day after day. As you finish your various writing projects you may very well find your
On Being a Bad Writer
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Skillfully executed nonfiction and fiction requires more than a brain dump on the page. We need a story, something to say, one that speaks to a
Location Less Writing
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We want to find the right place to write. A dedicated space to our writing can seem like honoring our commitment to our writing. I have a writing
Winging It Works?!?
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The majority of my writing life I have winged it. Budgets are for losers. So are writing outlines! Writing down my spending, creating and keeping a
Do the Work Before the Work Does You In
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Here’s the thing: I am a published author and co-owner of a publishing company and know a few things about writing; rewriting; rejection; not
How to Write 1.2 Million Words a Year
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Erle Stanley Gardner, originator of the 20th century America’s favorite lawyer Perry Mason, wrote like a fiend on speed. His output as a writer
Caveat Scriptor: Let the Writer Beware
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Writing day after day after requires focus, discipline and physical exertion. The ease with which I can distract myself from these behaviors
Scribbler’s Paradise
Scribblers Paradise
Here’s the thing: I am a published author and co-owner of a publishing company. I know about writing. I know rewriting. I know about rejection. I
Writing In and Out Images
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I’m working on a novel and mostly working on understanding what the heck I’ve gotten myself into. Long a nonfiction author, I had believed the shift
Scribbler’s Paradise: 100% Effort
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0% expectations. 100% effort. Can I write this way, always? Never think about who might read my words? Never worried about whether I’m good enough?
When a Beta Reader Says No
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The manuscript, a second volume of my ongoing memoir series, was done and sent to my beta readers. I felt so proud, constructing essays using some
Do I Write What I Want to Read?
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The words read flatly and stunk out loud. A kind of slow-moving gloom descended over me. What had happened to this essay? I worked on it for weeks
Five Reasons Why You Should Write to Your Loved Ones
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A woman in front of a delivery truck shot with a Canon 60D while pulling focus. How many words I have written, yet none to my beloved or grandmother
Creativity is a Marathon
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One of the challenges of living a creative life arises after the initial thrill of creating disappears. How do we keep the work interesting to
On Change and Self-Management
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On June 30, 2016, after 12.5 years of employment at my local public university, my unit dissolved my position and set me free. The likelihood I
Wanted: Intuition
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Today I plead with each you to follow your intuition. The voice that wakes you at 1:00 am and urges to write an important character sketch; or the
This One Trick is at the Heart of Writing
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In her book, Imaginative Writing, Janet Burroway states, “There is a simple trick at the heart of imaginative writing.” Read the following
Verb Tense and Writing Fiction
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Verb tense is a very important tool in the writer’s toolbox. Will you write in the present simple and continuous? The past simple? Both? Verb tense
One Cool Trick to Shift Points of View
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photo by Will White Shifting between different points of view requires skill. This is something of a truism in writing. There are many who try and
These 3 Words Will Improve Your Writing Guaranteed
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Todd VanDerWeff makes a brilliant case for why most writing fails. We too often use “and then” as the connective tissue in a story. Riffing off of
Writing Exercise, or Journalism
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From the 3:00 AM Epiphany (More exercises here.) Journalism. Write part of a story in the form of journal entries. Everything that happens in the
On Proper Word Choice
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Learning to write is learning to make a series of choices. Which point of view, tense, genre and other decisions are ones we must make as we write
We, The Narrators - Buddha in the Attic
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photo by Will White Julie Otsuka’s Buddha in the Attic tells the story of Japanese picture brides. Women emigrated from Japan to America in the
What is Writing Practice?
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A friend of mine is an internationally renowned jazz trombonist and a professor of music. He shared recently a set of trombone practice drills for
You, The Narrator and Participant - Sebastopol Sketches
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photo by Will White Don’t believe anyone who thinks the second-person point-of-view began with Bright Lights, Big City. Well before McInerny was
The Art of Revision
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All writing is rewriting. We must find a revision process that works for us. Over time we may adopt or more strategies that make us create the best
Writing Exercise, or The Unreliable Third
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From Brian Kitely’s The 3:00 A.M. Epiphany: Write a fragment of a story from the POV of an unreliable narrator — third person limited (or attached)
You and She, The Narrators - A Hybrid Form
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photo by Will White Mohsin Hamid’s How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is a coming-of-age story using an unusual hybrid point of view. Unlike a
The Big O: Mohsin Hamid
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“Glasgow Association of Observation and Curiosity” by Michael Gallacher Original detail distinguishes an average writer from a good one. An average
Do This Exercise, or The Imperative
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In this exercise, we explore a tool Lorrie Moore used in Self-Help, the imperative. From Brian Kitely’s The 3:00 am Epiphany. Write a fragment of a
You, The Narrator - Self-Help
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Flickr / Sophia Louise Lorrie Moore writes brilliantly in the second person in Self-Help, her first collection of short stories. Her style and tone
You, The Narrator - Bright Lights, Big City
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As part of the point of view (POV) series, we will review the second-person point of view. Second-person POV uses the pronoun You. You can be either
Point of View in Writing
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photo by Will White Point-of-View (POV) is a grammatical position through which you choose to tell a story. I say grammatical as a way to
Ursula Le Guin’s Advice: There Are No Recipes
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Image by Flood. The process of rewriting can be difficult. When you have loved a particular essay as much as I have loved the one I am now
Reading Exercise: The How of Language
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Sentences from Lord of the Rings The how of language, argues Sven Birkets, is the sentence. [1. Sven Birkets, “What Remains,” AGNI Magazine, 69,
How to Read Like a Writer
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The moment when you’re reading a book…by Mendak When we read like a writer, we read to learn about how to write better. Yes, we may read for
Writing Exercise: The Reluctant I
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The “3 A.M. Epiphany” offers a wealth of writing exercises. Author Brian Kitely writes “This book is a collection of fiction exercise instructions
The Big O is What It’s All About
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“Glasgow Association of Observation and Curiosity” by Michael Gallacher The use of original detail can be a sign of evolution for a writer. The red
Are You Creating Easy or Creating Well?
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Writing well seems to me to be about all the small choices I make throughout the day.[1. See the website of James Clear. His writing and research
How I Got More Out of My Writing Process
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I’ve tried every cure for consistent writing I’ve read about. The lure of quality has satisfied me enough, at least for this long while. Why bother
Why You Should Copy Other Writers
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I am adding this practice to my writer’s toolbox
I Got Hacked, Part 2
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Getting hacked has been a tiring but rewarding experience. Absurd, yes? Let me explain. I have spent my entire adult life learning how to be more
I Got Hacked
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Do you have security style? I don’t. Late last week I discovered my personal site here had been hacked. Because I am the dumbest website
Toni Morrison & Angela Davis - The Purpose of Freedom
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I am reminded of the tremendous work Morrison accomplished as an editor at Random House. During her tenure she published Toni Cade Bambara and
Twenty-Five Cent Words
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Reviewing another writer’s work is a great responsibility. One of the greatest ones, I think, is my responsibility as a reviewer to understand what
Toni Morrison & Alice Walker - There are Only Black People
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“I never asked Tolstoy to write for me, a little colored girl in Lorain, Ohio. I never asked [James] Joyce not to mention Catholicism or the world
The Duty of an Artist
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The incomparable Nina Simone on the duty of an artist. “How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?” Do you agree or disagree
Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea - Dunya Mikhail
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“Mazin bends his head to the table and cries. His niece in Baghdad has been kidnapped. She is twenty years old. Masked men surrounded her and pulled
3 A.M. Epiphany - A Great Writing Tool
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Three A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley provides me with numerous opportunities to work on my writing skills. He groups exercises around topics like
Duotrope for Better Writing Management
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Duotrope is a tool ($50.00/year) I use to track journal submissions. While I found the interface difficult to understand as a beginning user, I
Going Pro (Or I’m a Real Writer)
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2014 brought significant changes to my writing and my self-image as a writer. In mid-summer I enrolled in a Creative Nonfiction class called
Terror Points the Way to Writing Fiction
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nts-the-way-to-writing-fiction/ Is it providentially imprudent to begin a fiction career at my fifth decade? Terror points the way to writing
Gratitude: Not Being Able to Write
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I have started and stopped three different blog entries today. Each one I stopped, disgusted with myself that I could not find the words to complete
It All Started With A Google Search
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It’s Google’s fault. Reading Moby-Dick, I want to better understand this complicated, infuriating, wonderful book. I understand why critics argue it
Mastery Takes a Very Long Time
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Malcolm Gladwell’s oft quoted number says it takes 10,000 hours of practicing anything to become a master of it. I suppose that is true. Based on my
A Me Beyond Me
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Pushing myself beyond my limits has been a blast. While on staycation, I responded to a request to write periodic articles for a blog I read. Nice
Pursuing Goals I’ve Created
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Pursuing goals I’ve created as always been a challenge. I have found it easy to create many goals over my adult lifetime. I have always struggled to
Intentional Practice: Creating a Framework for Good Habits
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Creating a framework for good habits has eluded me for sometime. I work at doing it. I create lists and rearrange my stuff. But, like so many right
Rules for Creatives
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This graphic has some important rules for creatives, particularly the one about turning work into play. Henry Miller enjoined himself to work not
Kids Mocking Adults
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Kids mocking adults is neither the title nor the purpose of this video. The video is actually a book trailer for a book about “learn the secrets of
They Always Want the Writer to Work for Nothing (NSFW)
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Harlan Ellison’s most eloquent rant on why he demands payment from everyone. “They always want the writer to work for nothing. And the problem is
Limits Limit Me
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Limits limit me. This should not surprise me but it does. Two paths I have followed to this realization. Last week I installed Rescue Time on my
The Adverb is Not Your Friend
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The adverb is not your friend. I have shared that advice with countless writers in my capacity as a publisher. Most of them understand what I am
Novel Writing - The Understory
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Novel writing requires a complex set of skills ranging from plotting to dialogue to knowing everything that will happen on the page, before it
Intentional Practice: Focus on the Growing Heap
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This video by Gretchen Rubin of the Happiness Project has been on my mind a lot lately. Reading from Erasmus, she describes the link between
Tactics versus Strategy
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Everybody who does creative work has figured out how to deal with their own demons to get their work done. There is no evidence that setting up your