Recently a writer friend mentioned how much she depends on freewriting to get her writing process out of the gate each day. This is a sentiment I’ve heard often over the more than three decades I’ve been involved with writing classes and writing conferences etc. At times it seems that every good writer I meet […]
On Freewriting by Rich Chiappone Read More »
With the New Year underway, you may be charging ahead with vigor or smelling the first smoky whiffs of resolution burnout. Either way, you may find yourself wondering, “Enough with all the lists and goals. Can’t I just be happy?” Chasing happiness is usually a futile endeavor, experts tend to agree, especially when one is
Many of us have goals that feel so big, they’re almost shame-inducing. Why should a goal cause us shame? Maybe because we don’t want to admit our desires, especially if attainment seems unlikely. Maybe because we know that to achieve a big goal would be expensive or demand a lot of time away from our
Return A lone tree white with blossom Mountains fall toward blue Ridges recede into evening sky Whose sable brush strokes this softly? I count horizons home Soon we’ll be gone The road wet with rain. Bumthang Valley, Bhutan These poems crisscross the Pacific: from an elegy for a forest in Alaska to
It’s a clear, calm October day in Chugach State Park. I’m climbing a trail that is new to me with my hiking group. It’s steep, but with plenty of switchbacks so I know I can reach the top. Our goal is Little O’Malley Peak and a panoramic view of Campbell Creek, the valley, the city,
From Writer to Author by Susan Pope Read More »
Today, I gave in. I admitted that this simply wasn’t going to be a very productive week for many reasons: Worry about the war in Gaza/Israel. I was good at not reading news first thing in the morning for a while, but now, with the moment of a ground offensive upon us, I keep looking
An awesome Autumn tumbles on auspiciously in Seward. I am on the verge of climbing back into a novel. Nesting up the desk. Preparing to start most days there. Begin whittling away. I’m thinking about how we play the seasons up here. And the day-to-day. Flat water – go kayaking. Clear skies – backcountry multi-peak
Staying In It by Sean Ulman Read More »
Next month, I’ll be teaching a 49 Writers course about suspense as an element of all compelling writing. But in that course—and in this post—I won’t be excluding the suspense genre altogether. Truth is, many of us are intrigued by the notion of dabbling in this commercially successful category of fiction. Is it just because
Why We Write Suspense (Louisa May Alcott Did. Whaaat?) Read More »
“You always say the brutal truth,” my nine-year-old said the other day. “You really should try to do more ‘white lying’.” Here’s the thing: I’m a writer. Here’s the thing about being a writer: We can. Not. Lie. Well, maybe some writers can, but I can’t. Writers are supposed to be honest. Ernest Hemingway said,
When Writing Honestly Makes You a Bad Wife and Mother by Summer Koester Read More »
In my last blogpost, I touched on the inevitability of doubt in the creative process. It’s such an important issue, I thought I’d speak about strategies I’ve found for profiting from it. Getting in your own way In fiction, the first thing we do is give our characters obstacles. Both external and internal. The external
Getting Off the Couch and Embracing Doubt by Lucian Childs Read More »
