Poems, articles, columns, and short stories are all creative commitments, to be sure, but even if they linger unfinished for a while, they ...

Some writers think writing a book is just this:  sit down, write, and hope for the best.  Goals are a waste of time, because in a purely ...

Winter can be a bluesy or beneficial time for writers--depends how much you enjoy holing up with your words and ideas.  Sometimes it help...

One of my workshop students with her image board. Flummoxed by the main character in my novel-in-progress, I got the idea to browse in...

Writing is unexpected therapy--more and more studies are finding this true.  We get healthier the more we write.   How can that happe...

This week, my beginning-level online class is facing the Inner Critic.  I think it's great timing, with the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiv...

A memoirist in one of my online classes was trying to write about the sadness she felt at her father’s unexpected death. Her feedback...

Three elements are essential to all books, no matter the genre:  there must be conflict, there must be believable character (real or imagi...

We all admire wordsmiths, those who can sharpen and hone words until they sing. I have the pleasure of working with many top-notch words...

Fame has always been a hot topic of discussion among writers.  An unsavory one.  A necessary one.  If we long to be published, we ask t...