Every writer was a beginner once, but the smart ones don’t stay there long. And by “smart” I simply mean the writers who are willing to immediately start putting together their personal writing tool kit and knowledge base. It’s easy, and therefore common, for writers to languish in the beginner stage. If you want to make progress and achieve some…
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Getting Up to Speed: Six Tips for Beginning Writers
5 Ways to Uplevel Your Sentences
In the first fiction workshop I ever took, our instructor said to us, “Do you know what the difference between a really good fiction writer and you is? They make better sentences.” I knew even then that there was more of a difference between those writers and us, but his words have always stuck with me, and ever since I’ve…
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On Writing Prompts
Years ago I was listening to a well-respected editor speak at an Association of Writers & Writing Programs panel about the type of pieces he’s drawn to and turned off by in his submission pile. He expressed his dislike for work that sounds like it was written in response to a writing prompt. Being the good student that I am,…
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Gifts for Writers and Readers–ie, get something for you, something REAL nice
I update my gift-giving list year-round and keep it on my phone so that when I get an idea for a special person, I can buy the thing or save a note. I’ve gathered some ideas for you if you’ve got a writer on your list. But who are we kidding? This is a treat yo self list if there…
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What’s the Deal With Dialogue Tags?
My creative writing students and I get along well. We don’t see eye-to-eye on every story and poem we read, but that’s good and normal. But there is a topic that always seems to elicit an argument with a student or two—not a knock-down-drag-out (we save that for our fights over the use of exclamation points) but a topic that…
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