“Booker Prize novels? Ha! I read the Booker Prize list so I know what not to read.” A panel moderator said this, loudly and proudly, at a...

There’s a story about Joseph Conrad that I like to think about when I’m feeling bad about my writing. As the story goes, Conrad had just...

February is my birthday month (yes, I get a whole month). So I’m going to indulge in teasing out a connection between writing and one of...

I am delighted to be a guest blogger for Amy Smith. Our story goes back to 2005 when we met via email through Dr. Cheryl Wanko. Amy...

A lighthearted post for the holiday season! Watching the end-of-year classic Bridget Jones’s Diary (again) got me thinking about when the...

It’s hard enough to find time to work on your novel/poetry/memoir/space opera – do you really need to squeeze in blogging, too? Lots of...

What’s fantitlement, and should writers be worried about it? These days any of us can interact with famous writers on Twitter and other...

I just finished taking my first-ever online course – a 10-week screenwriting class. Since I’m a shameless genre hopper, I’ve got my eye...

“Blurb” is one of those words that, if you look at it long enough, just seems wrong. It’s weird. But blurbs matter. As writers these days...

All good writers are readers – it’s key to learning our craft. We read for pleasure and for inspiration, to soak up the magic and maybe,...

Genevieve Beltran (right) and Lauren Francis-Sharma, Assistant Director of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference

Here’s a follow-up on my March 1st post, “Should You Write a Memoir?” – because I went genre fluid within the very same book, All Roads...

A guy walks into the same bar every evening and sits on the same stool. One day, he walks in to find a woman sitting in his spot. He sits...

People – especially women and same-sex couples – face a decision when they get married: keep or change your last name? It’s a special...

I always looked at a career like Sylvia Plath’s and was in awe. She wrote groundbreaking poetry and her novel The Bell Jar is a classic....

Many writers are faithful to their genre. They were drawn to novels young, or invested years honing their poetry craft – whatever the...

[photo credit: Maggie Kimmitt] What fascinates you? Answer that question and you may see the main subject—or subjects—of your writing...

Is it dangerous? Is it fun? Should you try it? Conventional wisdom for writers tends to say: stick with a genre. From the business end of...