Please join me in welcoming the beautiful and talented Mary Katherine. Mary Katherine is one of my friends I've known from birth. She was in my wedding and I was in hers. Throughout our teens her, her sister and I were known to write dramatic fantasy stories, as well as tape-record our renditions of such strange things as an interviews with all nine main characters of…
In two and a half days, I logged over 10,000 words of story architecture, plotting, and brainstorming for my newest novel idea as a byproduct of a writers retreat that I and seven other individuals enjoyed this last weekend. Was the writing retreat productive? Absolutely. But it was so much more than word counts and fresh pages of prose. Can you remember those time-freezing, luminous moments that your…
How in the world am I supposed to write, rewrite, edit, market myself, blog, find an agent, network and find time for the seemingly hundreds of things that writers are "supposed to do" in order to establish themselves and win the great trophy of the title published? (For those of you who can relate to this, it may be an appropriate time to tear at your hair).…
Writing and life are inseparable. I think this is why Natalie Goldberg applied the Zen lessons she learned to the practice of life, art, and writing. This morsel of wisdom, the third and final in the list she shared at WOTS, reminds her audience to "make positive effort for the good." I almost seems too simple, too transparent. Practically speaking, Natalie used the example of forcing herself to…
"We're sorry to inform you that your submission was not a good fit for our magazine. Best of luck finding a place for it elsewhere." Haven't we all been there? There's no way I can avoid being refused or ignored when I take my art and show it to the masses. Rejection is a fact of the writing life. How in the world do I find ways to keep my…