3 Ways to Get Off Your Writing Plateau
"Work hard. Keep at it." I saw that Hugh MacLeod quote at WordCandy.me the other day. Why, I'm even the one who put it there. It's a good quote, and true. But it's also deceptive. Working hard works...
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Curious Words: The Art of Prospiring
"Wait." Urgency in Village Eldest's voice. I turn round to see her crouched down next to a dried cow pat. "Trae! Give me the bucket!" she orders. For a few seconds I think she has gone round the bend....
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A Book of Beginnings: Motion
"Why do you think people don't start?" "Lots of reasons," I say. I am watching you fiddle with the glass salt shaker. You are rocking it from one edge of its square bottom to the other. Rock-a-bye,...
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Wheat Berries and Writing
The best part about spending the night with my best friend was the food. Her mother bought organic and local before those words entered the public conversation. Dinner was always made fresh and was...
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A Book of Beginnings: Ritual
You've placed everything you need onto the granite countertop. Pearly onion, waiting to be peeled back. White cheddar. A carton of Horizon Eggs. But first you cleared the evidence of last night's...
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How to Become a Better Writer: Black(wing) Magic
Can Your Pencil Tell You How to Become a Better Writer? The writing instrument you choose becomes the one to which you whisper secrets. An extension of the muse. The magician's wand. For some writers,...
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Poets and Writers Toolkit: 4 Ways to Generate Writing Ideas
“You know the good thing about writing class?” my middle step-son asked me one evening shortly after the school-year began. “You can write whatever you want.” I considered the alternative--being...
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Memoir Notebook: Folie a Deux — The Ghost in You
Memoir Notebook is a monthly (sometimes more) column dedicated to longer works. By way of our Memoir Notebook, we want you to meander, get caught up, find yourself taken to places you hadn’t intended...
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How to Become a Better Writer: Write Like a Painter
On a recent tour of the Matisse, Life in Color: Masterworks from the Baltimore Museum of Art exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I spent most of my time ruminating about how much I could gain...
View ArticleDoors & Passageways: Dancers and Dreams Poetry Prompts
Doors & Passageways Poetry Prompts 1. Write a poem that includes both a dancer and a door. How will the two interact? Are you outside watching the dancer, or inside hearing the sounds and seeing...
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The Writing Life: Setting Limits to Become a Better Writer
My black Labrador Retriever walked up to me as I worked in my home office, sat down on her back haunches, and proceeded to whimper and cry like she was in some real pain. I looked at her and shook my...
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3 Rules for Pretending to Be a Writer
I hear the boys playing in one of the bedrooms. Their voices are confident as they navigate an imaginary world in which they are the protectors against all manner of evil. Since their guns are only...
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Become a Better Writer: 5 Things the Theater Taught Me About Writing
The smell of popcorn takes me back...backstage, that is. On Fridays and Saturdays during most of the years between 1998 to 2007, I played a variety of entertainers from 1950's, '60's and '70's popular...
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5 Tips to Make the Most of Your Next Writers Conference
Several years ago, I attended a writers conference where I did nearly everything wrong. I wore uncomfortable shoes, I chose sessions based on popular authors rather than topics what would help my...
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Revamping The Raven—and Other Writing Mischief
How to Become a Better Writer There are so many ways to become a better poet and writer. It involves a host of skills, a way of being, and a lot of practice. I’ve noticed that some would-be poets (and...
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How to Write a Powerful Book Proposal that Sells
Nonfiction Book Proposal Workshop: 8 Weeks with Jane Friedman (July 21-September 15) The Short Story A comprehensive course on producing nonfiction book proposals in the digital age, with hands-on...
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Waking the Poet: Cures for Writers Block
At a writer’s retreat, I spent time with Julia Kasdorf. She was teaching a poetry seminar. She began the session by having us introduce ourselves. One poet responded by saying that poetry is the thing...
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5 Benefits of Collaborative Writing
Franz Kafka once suggested that writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself. Although it sounds a bit creepy, I get it. As a mother to four kids, I relish hours alone with...
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The Progression of a Writing Life Part 1: Play
As a writer progresses in his craft, he may sometimes wonder what he might expect the path to look like. In this four-part series, Charity Singleton Craig envisions a possible progression of a writing...
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The Progression of a Writing Life Part 2: Risk
As a writer progresses in her craft, she may sometimes wonder how her particular path will look. In this four-part series, Charity Singleton Craig envisions a possible progression of a writing life...
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