The ability to describe is the key to great storytelling, but when it comes to depicting characters, our first impulse…
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Storytelling
Lessons from Julia Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine
I’m a slow reader. I sometimes pluck a book from the shelf based not on whether its subject matter appeals…
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5 Musts for Writing a Compelling Story Beginning
The beginning of your book, as much as the back cover or inside flap, is marketing copy. Your reader will…
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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…
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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,…
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The Title and the Short Creative Work
American Life in Poetry sent this lovely Barbara Crooker poem to my inbox. It’s full of beautiful imagery, moving metaphors,…
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