I learned about the importance of transitions during my MFA study.  One of my thesis advisers, a talented novelist, read my novel-in-pr...

I teach all levels of writers, and I especially love working with brand-new writers.  Someone who has just gotten an idea for a novel.  ...

Morning: writing at my sunny desk.  Task:  revise a stubborn scene.  Advice from recent feedback:  bring more emotion into it. Sunshin...

On June 2, next Monday, I begin teaching my summer online classes.   In both the beginning and intermediate level classes, we examine...

 I loved this flippant, educational article by a favorite writer, Cheryl Strayed.  She's reached fame and fortune lately, since her ...

{This post also appeared earlier this week as a guest blog on Grub Street Daily .} Vivian Gornick talks about “the situation and the s...

A particular exchange exists between the writer and her writing.  One feeds the other.  If you write, you write more.  If you stop writi...

I came across Janet Burroway's superb text on writing fiction during my MFA program.  Writing Fiction:  A Guide to Narrative Craft is t...

Novelists and memoir writers know the agony and ecstasy of voice and theme.  Two make-or-break aspects of a book, they arrive last-minut...

Sharon, a blog reader, emailed me last week with a question about her book--not a writing craft question, but the all important organiz...