Friday, January 10, 2014

Patterns of Change--How Do You Create Strong Conflict in Your Fiction or Memoir?

›
Most stories foster change.  Either change in the situation, in the character or narrator, or in the reader and their understanding of ...
Friday, January 3, 2014

Making Your Own Book Trailer--Guest Blog by Authors Juliann Rich and Aren Sabers

›
You've seen them:  short, sassy movies, using imagery, themes or even text from a soon-to-be-published book.  A moving visual image...
Friday, December 27, 2013

How'd You Do? Reviewing Your Year's Writing Goals--A Sure Way to Encourage Your Creative Spirit

›
Each month, I set goals with a writing partner who lives in another state; we used to be in the same writing group until I moved, and I...
Friday, December 20, 2013

Your Writing Voice: How to Develop It, Recognize It, Not Copy Someone Else's

›
One of my long-time students asked a great question this week:  how does a writer develop voice?  Voice is the elusive uniqueness that co...
Friday, December 13, 2013

Strange Alchemy: How Place, People, and Conflict Intertwine in Fiction and Memoir

›
Boston's legendary Cecelia chorus performs only a few times a year.  Their concerts are well worth the time.  Recently I heard them i...
Friday, December 6, 2013

From School Principal to Thriller Writer--The Grassroots Journey of Andy Rose

›
In 1967, Andy Rose started working as a fifth-grade teacher in the impoverished Lower East Side of Manhattan. The children in his classe...
Friday, November 29, 2013

The Intriguing Structure of Claire Dederer's Poser--How to Link Different Topics, Timelines, and Themes in a Memoir

›
Author Claire Dederer came to book-writing after being a journalist for about twenty years, working as a reporter, critic, and essayist....
Friday, November 22, 2013

Pros and Cons of the Workshopping Method--And How to Manage Feedback So You Keep Writing

›
We all have war stories from bad feedback.  If you've been writing and attending conferences or classes for more than a few years,...
Friday, November 15, 2013

Crafting Your Book's Visual Map--New Ways to Use a Storyboard

›
Storyboards are a fast and easy template to check the strength of a book's structure.  More and more writers use them.  I hear about f...
Friday, November 8, 2013

Using an Image Board to Get Closer to the Meaning of Your Story

›
Guest Post by   Memoirist and Singer/ Songwriter Elisa Korenne Elisa Korenne entered the creative-writing world as a songwriter. ...