Today’s post is an excerpt from my new book, Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It) called Write What You Know. If you are going to write you must become aware of this richness in you and come to believe in it and know it is there so that...Read More

Welcome, writers! Don’t forget to join us today at 12:00 PM CDT for the Write Now! Mastermind class with author Kelly Stone on learning how to integrate writing into our daily lives. On the call, I will be giving away a copy of her newest book, Living Write: The Secret to Inviting Your Craft Into...Read More

I want to be writing—revising last year’s NaNo project—but I am inundated by tasks and of course, I still have to work! My son has grown an inch in every direction, and I need to buy him clothes. My 9-year-old daughter has lost weight (again), so we are back to figuring out creative ways to...Read More

Several times a year, this post goes around Facebook: It’s National Book Week. The rules are: Grab the closest book to you. Go to page 56. Copy the 5th sentence as your status. Post these rules as part of your status. Over the years, I have interviewed many writers who use the words of other...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

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

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

As a reader, I often get bored by long descriptions of  place. After pages of flowery language about the shape of the topography or the decorative style of a house, I will scream at my book: enough already! Still, in the best novels, the setting supports the story in an integral way. When I recall...Read More

My 9th grade English teacher loved the word garage. I didn’t get it. For me, the word garage conjured up images of oil spots and old tools. She kept saying, “Listen to the sound, to how the word rolls off your tongue: garage.” This morning as I walked the dog, her words came back to...Read More