In the last year and a half, three of my friends died, two during the previous seven months. Aside from family, since 2016, I’ve lost five friends. My best friend passed away about a month and a half ago, and my world irrevocably changed. I could no longer support her, no longer text her, no […]
[Full disclosure, I work with Nicole, who asked me to write this article.] I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid. I always hoped that someone would see the spark in me and take me under their wing. A few years ago, I had a breakthrough on a story. I thought I nailed the […]
When I was 11 years old, I wanted to be a writer; specifically, a playwright. I wanted to be like Neil Simon, living in New York above an Italian deli run by a kindly old woman who would sneak me cannoli. I imagined I would ascend to my writing loft, careful not to knock over […]
CRAFT CLASSICS is Born One of the high points in my life was hearing novelist and poet Denis Johnson read his work and answer questions about writing. I remember when an audience member was in the middle of asking a question and Johnson interrupted to say, “… well, when I was reading through one of […]
I used to think of writers as solitary creatures, writing their books in isolation, until I heard about Alpha Readers and Beta Readers. I didn’t realize how collaborative the creative writing process really is until I became serious about writing. The moment you allow someone to take a look at your work, you’re no longer […]
Deadline: December 18, 2023: Women poets are invited to submit poetry that reimagines women in myth, fairy tale, folklore, or legend, poems that tell women’s lost histories or untold stories, to the Heroines Anthology and Women’s Writing Prize. This will be the Heroines Anthology Submissions close on the 18TH DECEMBER 2023.
A few updates for y’all. Happy Holidays to everyone. First-Draft Incubator – New 2019 Session Did you know that if you got a book deal today, your book wouldn’t come out until 2020? This is why it’s important to write that draft as soon as possible. Because the 2018 session of the First-Draft Incubator was […]
1. Write Every Day This adage causes so much self-hatred and guilt in writers that I’d like to banish it from our vocabulary entirely. So let me say this with gusto: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WRITE EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE. What you do need to do, is write consistently. Pick a schedule […]
Bringing you articles from around the web, to help keep you informed. 32 Calls for Submissions in October 2018 – Paying Markets All of these literary magazines pay, and none charge submission fees. There are nearly three dozen calls for submissions in October. As always, anything you can think of is wanted – flash fiction, […]
We received the following email about a play, and thought it was so cool that it warranted a blog post: I thought your writer’s group would be interested in a play where Ray Bradbury talks about his process and creates stories right before your eyes. It is a very inspiring play, specifically aimed at writers. […]