I was talking with a songwriter friend this weekend about how his songs are put together.  An idea usually comes--about a person, a place...

This week's post is reprinted from Writer's Block, an online newsletter from the Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis. As a begi...

Erin, a blog reader who has taken my online book-writing classes, wrote with a great question:  "I'm struggling a bit of...

A blog reader from New England sent a great question, which ties into a discussion happening in one of my online classes right now...

Skilled writers use sensory details to bring emotion to the reader.  Oddly enough, emotion doesn't come from fast-paced action.  Our...

Many first-time novelists and memoirists struggle with timelines, asking excellent questions in my classes.  Two favorite ones:  * How lo...

Anyone who has written creative nonfiction (memoir, particularly) has probably run into the question of story ownership.  How much o...

Making New Year's resolutions about my writing is fun.  Energizing.  At New Year's, anything is possible.  I look at what I have...

When you read a great story, you don't even notice how you're engaged.  You just are--right?  But skillful writers plant a r...

Is one of your New Year's goals to finally get that manuscript submitted?  Get off your endless revision-hamster-wheel?   For your...