For years I pooh-poohed mystery novels, considering them inferior to literary fiction. Then I met my favorite writer, Madeleine L’Engle, who admitted to not only reading but loving mystery novels. She touted the genre for its ability to teach plot to the would-be fiction writer. Like a good student, I took down the names of...Read More

In my neighborhood, folks put their unwanted stuff out by the curb. Because this is a college neighborhood, with students moving in and out, this happens pretty regularly in the summer. Last week, I came across this little Santa while walking the dog. Living in Wisconsin, I am not used to seeing Santa perched on...Read More

For years, I imagined that authors were blessed with a humongous dose of inspiration that drove them to work hard and achieve great things. Now I know differently. Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist and runner. In his book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Murakami says: Even if there were two...Read More

Choose an old object from your home. If you don’t have any, find a picture of an antique online. Imagine that when you touch the object, you are transported to its original time and place. *Where are you? *What happens? *How do you interact with the object? Write about it! For more on writing historical...Read More

In college, I dreamed of becoming a professor. In the midst of doing an intensive semester-long independent study, one of my professors told me that scholars must possess a large capacity for boredom. For years, I’ve thought the same thing about writing. Often, the research for a particular article or book means slogging through a...Read More

Practice Makes Perfect: How journaling helps the writing process Guest Post by Debra Brenegan One requirement I have for students of my Introduction to Creative Writing Courses: Keep a journal. My students need to write a minimum of two full pages a week for the 15 weeks we are in class together. What do they...Read More

For much of my life, I have struggled with the tyranny of perfectionism. Thankfully, when I was just starting my writing career, I happened upon Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life and this advice: Perfection is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you...Read More

Your dreams can be a rich source of stories, images, metaphors, and sensory details for your writing. Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novel The Deep End of the Ocean and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight both began with the authors’ dreams. You, too, can use your dreams to spark a new story or give an existing story new life. Dream...Read More

Part memoir, part writing craft, Stephen King’s book On Writing will stir every writer’s heart and erase any doubt you had about King being a serious writer (he is). My favorite tip from King’s book is this gem: If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a...Read More

In yesterday’s blog post, I wrote about one of my favorite writing books, If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland. Every Tuesday, all summer long, I’ll be blogging about the lessons I’ve learned from reading about writing. (If you want to get these lessons in your inbox, you can subscribe to the blog or sign...Read More