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

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

Last night I heard Ann Patchett read from her new book State of Wonder at Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee. The store was packed and readers were excited to hear this book group favorite talk about her life, writing and books. As a writer and writing coach, I was most interested in hearing about Patchett’s...Read More

This is what my office looks like when I am finishing a project: messy. I spent the whole weekend moving furniture, tossing old stuff, cleaning, and organizing. I still have more to do, but I am beginning to feel like I can breathe again. I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to...Read More