The Writers Group as Teacher: Lessons in Showing Up
A good writers group isn’t defined by rules. It isn’t defined by size. A writers group is working when it teaches you how to read and how to revise, and…
Five Things Fan Fic
Five Things... is a fanfiction writing form or structure that originated in Smallville fandom in 2001 with the fic Five Things That Aren't True by Basingstoke. The format requires a…
The Five Things Essay
An all-purpose writing prompt to help you find your voice, lose your voice, beat writer's block, or figure out what the hell you want to write about in the first…
Creating Without Fear: How to Quiet the Inner Critic Through Generative Writing
For over a decade I have participated in a group that meets once a month; typically there are five or six of us. Over the years we’ve honed this process…
typesetting in google drive
novel settings
Cultivate Suspense: Lessons From Thrillers
What makes for a great thriller? In a word, suspense. Thriller writers know that readers expect high stakes, compelling characters, and a twisting plot to keep the pages turning. Top…
Truing the Narrative: Revising for Symmetry to Make Your Manuscript Sing
I taught a seven-week course on revision in a church basement. I had about a half dozen students, all of whom brought either a chapter from a longer work-in-progress, a…
Tumblr Dialogue how-to thread
“This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story,” she said with a smile.
stage direction
in your writing
How the Light Gets In: The Lighthouse
This group brought me back to a writing practice. It taught me something I learned when I first fell in love with writing but had forgotten over time, bit by…