Clik here to view.
Poem making: five ideas for mixing the mystical and the conscious
This past weekend, a friend and I shared poems we’d written to see what we could learn from each other’s work. Reading our poems and talking about the subtext of them made me think about how writing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to create a metaphor practice, part 2
In my last post, I wrote about the benefits of starting a metaphor practice and gave one exercise for doing so (by using a template from a writer you admire). Below is another exercise to add to your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Three highlights from my reading practice: See how they could make you a...
I love the inspiration and ideas I receive from reading different genres and authors. Whether I’m turning the pages of a physical book or one on my Kindle or iPad, I write about what I’m reading....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Heat up your writing with these prompts
Sometimes I get into a writing funk. It’s as though I’m frozen in place. Maybe this has happened to you. You’ve gone through a stressful event, you’re not sleeping well, or you’ve been consumed by work...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cultivate conversation with a mini essay
You never know where you will find wild words. In a recent post, How to find writerly inspiration while eating a burrito, I wrote about Chipotle restaurant’s Cultivating Thought — Author Series in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Does your protagonist have a life theme or motto?
At the beginning of each year, my writing partner Carly chooses a short phrase or sentence that she uses to remind herself of what she wants to focus on for the coming year. She says she likes to keep...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Don’t miss a beat: Get into the heart of your character
In a previous post I wrote about a little technique I learned from author and writing instructor, Rhay Christou, who teaches for the online Lawson Writer’s Academy. “Develop your characters through...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Poetic inspiration for your writing
We’ve all faced the need to clean out our closets and finetune our possessions, whether we’re making a move, downsizing our living space, or just reorganizing. We have to make hard decisions about what...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dialogue tips: the fastest way to improve any manuscript
In this 30-minute video below, author Joanna Penn interviews author and writing teacher James Scott Bell about his book on dialogue, “How to Write Dazzling Dialogue: The Fastest Way to Improve Any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Five ways to build your curious nature
I’m a curious person. My intense curiosity propelled me into a writing career. So when I read Bernadette Jiwa’s post, The Relationship Between Curiosity and Business Growth, my curiosity meter spiked...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Writing advice from a Tasmanian cave spider, or how to get your creative...
Ok, I lied. This post isn’t really about writing advice from a Tasmanian cave spider—more like life advice. Hang with me for a moment. You’ll see what I mean. After taking nearly a year off from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How one piece of writing can morph into something else
A few of my writing friends and I meet up occasionally to read our work and give each other feedback. One day, I read a poem I’d written about an encounter with a woman who had Alzheimer’s. When I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Write active, sensory description to make your story believable
In a post I read a few years ago by Marg McAlister, “Verisimilitude: Description that Puts the Reader in the Scene,” I copied and saved one of the excerpts she used because I thought it was a good...
View ArticleHow to write from an animal’s point of view
To kick off National Poetry Month, I’m sharing a poem from my poetry book, “The Dragon & The Dragonfly.” The idea for the poem came from a prompt to write from an animal’s point of view. I’d just...
View ArticleAdd a new dimension to your writing with humor
Let’s face it. This world can be difficult and confusing at times. Writing or doing any art or creative endeavor (even cooking or taking photographs while out walking) can help us figure out the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eight exercises to develop curiosity and become a better writer (and person)
Developing our curiosity can serve to make us not only more interesting people but also better writers and more creative artists. Being curious has helped me dig deeper in my writing, develop an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Using your grief and other emotions to deepen your characters
It’s difficult to write about deep painful emotions, even in our characters, unless we’ve experienced them. And, even then, it’s not an easy task. Strong emotions can be overwhelming. Sometimes we numb...
View ArticleFind your flow with writing prompts—part 1
I love to write and I especially love to write poetry, but I also go through long periods where I don’t write. I get busy with work and life. Or roadblocks appear that zap my time and energy and leave...
View ArticleFind your flow with writing prompts — part 2
As mentioned in part one of this post, writing prompts can help get us into the flow of our writing. Poetry prompts are easy. Pretty much anything can be a poetry prompt. But what if you’re working on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to use the six basic human needs to make your characters come to life,...
The key to writing strong, believable characters is to really know and understand your characters as if they’re living, breathing human beings. You want to know your character’s background, what makes...
View Article