Pandemic Writing

  After reading Bethany Jarmful’s "Friday Speak Out" post about making sure you write even when you’re busy, I thought of my early days of freelancing. I would often have my four-year-old daughter putting together a set of railroad tracks for my toddler son in the playroom so I could interview someone for a weekly newspaper column I wrote. I never could seem to coordinate phone calls with nap...

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5 comments challenges of working from home, Renee Roberson, writing during the pandemic

Finding Treasure in Your First Draft

Many of us have heard over the course of our writing life that first drafts are meant to be terrible. Many authors, ones more successful than me, have said that is the key to getting them done. Let them be awful! And that's true. Except sometimes we get stuck so far down on the road of revision we lose sight of some things in the story that was so important before. Recently, I've talked about my journey to revise a story that has had a character that felt underdeveloped to me. Nothing...

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4 comments Nicole Pyles, revision process

Friday Speak Out!: When Life Is Too Busy, Write Anyway

by Bethany JarmulIf you’ve ever sought out counsel on how to create a consistent writing habit, you’ve probably heard these bits of advice: 1. Schedule uninterrupted time, at the same time everyday. 2. Find a quiet place, free of distractions—a place set aside only for writing. 3. Set a daily word count goal and don’t stop writing until you reach your goal. I recognize the wisdom of this advice....

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3 comments Bethany Jarmul, Friday Speak Out, prioritize writing, time to write, writing and parenting, writing habit

What You Need to Be a Writer

The low road or the high road? Which leads to writing?emondlafoto on PixabyJust over a month ago, a fellow writer tweeted a question. “Writers: Do you have a degree in writing? Does it help?” My first smart aleck thought was, “I don’t know. Is there a hole in your wall that you need to cover?” Sorry. It’s an old family joke that gets trotted out whenever someone is showing off a diploma...

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8 comments DIY MFA, learn to write, learning about writing, MFA

Best Kept Secrets

I do love a good secret, don’t you? And when I hear that something is a best kept secret—like a new hometown restaurant off the beaten track or a mysterious walking trail—I can’t wait to give the secret a try. But here’s the thing about best kept secrets: they don’t stay secret very long. You just can’t keep people from extolling the virtues of something wonderful. And before long, it’s not...

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4 comments art of editing, Cathy C. Hall, Nonfiction Fest, research skills

Interview with Leontine Hartzell, Runner Up in the WOW! 2021 Summer Flash Fiction Contest

Leontine Hartzell is a writer and shamanic energy healing teacher. She has been a psychic life coach and energy healer for over 30 years. A mystic and visionary, she listens to her helping spirits to bring forth inspiring wisdom through her writing, teaching, music, healing and coaching individuals and Fortune 500 executives. She is also an award winning recording artist, singing healing melodies...

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Leave a Comment Contestant interview, Leontine Hartzell, WOW! Summer 2021 Flash Fiction Contest, writing advice

I'm Gonna Be (500 Words)

The Proclaimer's song, I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), gets me bouncing in the car seat every time I hear it on the car radio. I sing aloud loudly (and off-key). If you're unfortunate enough to never have heard it, I've included it at the end.The number 500 hit me hard as I floundered for a way to get out of my rut. A friend asked me the other night, "What's going on with your new book?" I was lucky enough...

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6 comments Edwin Starr, Greenwood Gone: Henry's Story, James Brown, Sioux Roslawski, The Once and Future Witches, The Proclaimers, writer's block

Find Joy and Creativity Again With Small Steps

I recently wrote the newsletter intro for the WOW! January markets e-newsletter, and I came up with the theme that small steps plus small goals can equal big success. Then, in my friend group, we've been texting a lot (on a group chat!) about feeling stagnant in careers and in life. Those conversations, along with my article for the newsletter and my own recent life changes, made me think of this: Empower...

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Friday Speak Out!: Empty Next Syndrome

by Caitlin Hamilton Summie Having spent nearly half of my life writing about the same set of characters, I have finally come to the end—the short stories about them are all written, a novel about them is soon to be published (GEOGRAPHIES OF THE HEART, Fomite Press, January 18, 2022). There isn’t another prose piece bubbling about the Macmillan family. My characters have “moved out,” so to speak....

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2 comments Caitlin Hamilton Summie, Characters, Friday Speak Out, novel, short stories

Back to the Books

A peek at one of my fiction shelves. I’ve always been an avid reader, and I know I’m in good company on this blog. Ask for a book recommendation and you’ll get it in spades! But for some reason, while a lot of people found themselves with more time to read during the pandemic, I took that extra time to read and research true crime, mostly in the form of archived newspaper articles, as I worked to...

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6 comments Goodreads Reading Challenge, Renee Roberson, setting reading goals

Interview with Kelli Short Borges, Summer 2021 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Kelli Short Borges is a writer of essays, short stories, and flash fiction. A former reading specialist in the Arizona public school system, Kelli is a life-long reading enthusiast. Although many who know her claim she’s a beaming ray of sunshine, many of Kelli’s stories tend toward the dark and disturbing. In addition to writing, Kelli enjoys hiking the Arizona foothills, photography, and traveling...

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Leave a Comment contest interview, flash fiction, Kelli Short Borges, Marcia Peterson, Runner up, Summer 2021 Flash Fiction Contest, writing insoiration

In Pursuit of Conflict

In my personal and even professional life, I tend to be a little conflict-averse. You won't exactly find me running into the open arms of conflict with my heart wide open. I don't seek it, look for it, and find ways to generate it. However, when it comes to my own writing, I look for it constantly. As I have shared recently, I recently found a new way to revise my stories and I found a hitch...

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4 comments creating conflict, Nicole Pyles

Idea Generation: The Rules and Regs for Collecting Ideas

My last post was about Setting Goals in 2022, and one of the things that I wrote about was the Storystorm idea generation challenge. I have since had a question about how Storystorm works. Are the ideas fairly complete? Or are they something I will have to flesh out later? In all reality, I try not to set too many rules. I look for challenges like Storystorm that are fairly open to interpretation....

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7 comments finding ideas, idea generation, ideas, saving ideas

Friday Speak Out!: How to Find the Right Writing Coach for You

by Lisa Mae DeMasi “Do what you love” may be the most overused advice in the career-improvement world. Countless superstar entrepreneurs’ TEDx talks and thought leaders’ bestselling books have quoted Maya Angelou: “pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.” But that’s not always possible in practice. I know this firsthand. Once upon a time...

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Leave a Comment finding a writing coach, Friday Speak Out, guidance, Lisa Mae DeMasi, memoir

Thoughts About Woods and Writing

2022 started with a bang. Or maybe it was more of a thud.It was around three in the morning, pitch black outside, winds howling. And I know us writer types love to use that expression for colorful imagery but in this case, the winds were actually howling. Broken branches were knocking against my house and roof and now wide awake, I began to read (and pray), waiting for the worst of the storm to...

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9 comments Cathy C. Hall, Neil Gaiman, writing advice, writing encouragement

Nurturing Voices

Recently, my middle schoolers finished drafting and revising their pioneer pieces. Each of them chose a pioneer--someone who had broken barriers--and had researched, took notes, composed, crafted, edited and revised. They studied how the person had changed the world. They also examined the person's obstacles.Several of my students discovered their person had been told they shouldn't have the dream...

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6 comments Dr. Mae Jemison, dreams, Editor-911 Books, Margo Dill

Interview with Ainhoa Palacios, Summer 2021 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Today I'm excited to interview Ainhoa Palacios, runner up in our Summer 2021 Flash Fiction Contest. Make sure you read her story Chola and then come on back to read the interview.First, let me tell you more about Ainhoa:Ainhoa Palacios was born in Lima, Peru, and moved to the US at the age of six where she was raised by her mother, Abue, and sister. She graduated from the University...

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Leave a Comment 2021 Summer Flash Fiction Runner Up, Ainhoa Palacios, Flash Fiction Contest, Runner up

Three Technical Rules to Get Right, So Your Writing Is Not Dismissed

Very few writers enjoy reading articles and blog posts about the technical aspects of writing. It's much more fun to read the inspiring posts and Cinderella stories--or even how-tos about building better characters or writing an attention-grabbing beginning.However, I recently finished judging some contest entries, and falling down in the technical area can actually be the difference between your...

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