A good friend just recommended, and another just purchased, the most beautiful writer's notebook, so I am posting this article from two ...

Today it is wet outside, the start of our fall rains.  Everything looks saturated with September sun and now the moisture of this gentle rai...

A common question in my book-writing classes is the difference between chapters and scenes.  Both are pathways, bridges between one moment a...

Storyboards, the visual map that filmmakers use, save my books. They are my primary pathway through my piles of material.  They are my best...

Each choice we make, each change we bring into our lives, requires a certain level of attention.  Normal activities that are in a groove req...

My new book, Your Book Starts Here, is now a finalist for the New Hampshire Literary Awards in the nonfiction category.  Pretty thrilling! ...

I'm on a writing sabbatical this week so I'm rerunning a favorite post from December 2009--hope you enjoy it! Still life--may be n...

In mid-summer, my writing often takes a dive.  I feel the laziness of summertime and don't really want to work on anything, much less do...

Novelist and short-story writer Stuart Dybek ( Coast of Chicago ) was interviewed in Novel Voices about unique approaches to writing a book...

One of my favorite quotes about showing versus telling comes from Anton Chekhov, who wrote, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the ...