Characters are it, in both fiction and memoir, if you want to publish.  Of course you have to have a good plot, something happening.  An...

In two weeks, on Friday, March 30, I'll be teaching an all-day workshop at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.  We'll exami...

Writing teachers and writing classes-- if you've worked with either, if you've shared your writing for feedback, you've prob...

A blog reader sent in this fascinating question: How can "event writers" develop stationary moments in their narrative and s...

Several of my private clients are completing their manuscripts this month, getting ready to pitch to agents at one of the large writing c...

They say it takes a lot of support to write a book--the process is long, hard, and personal for most writers.  We need encouraging words...

Writing dialogue should be easy, right?  Most of us talk.  We text, we email, we use words in conversation all the time.  We listen (s...

A past student from my Madeline Island retreats emailed me recently with a great question.  It's one most writers struggle with:  Ho...

Not everyone will agree with this post, so skip it if you already know it's not your thing.  Walking has saved my writing life this ...

Two of my private clients just completed their books.  A time for celebration, since they both worked extremely hard for the past year o...