If you’ve never hired an editor to help you with a creative writing project, there’s a good chance you don’t…
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Storytelling
The First Line of Your Memoir
The first line of your memoir (or essay or novel) might come to you early on, fully formed. Or it…
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Beyond Tall, Dark, and Handsome: How to Describe Characters
The ability to describe is the key to great storytelling, but when it comes to depicting characters, our first impulse…
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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
Your story beginning, as much as the back cover or inside flap, is marketing copy. Your reader will give you…
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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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