writing process – The Writing Bug

Let’s Resolve to Be Resolute.

It’s that time of year that resolutions get tossed about and added to our long list of things.

Not Your Average Daydreaming

Daydreaming exercises the brain and can lead to more productive writing sessions.

Dream Big And Little And Everything in Between

By Melanie Peffer Since my first book for the trade audience (the general book-reading audience available through regular book dealers), Biology Everywhere, many people have asked me questions about writing a book. They wanted to know about everything from my writing process to navigating self-publishing to my motivations to write in the first place.

Bah, Humbug!

By Katie Lewis Whether you personally celebrate it or not, Christmas is undeniably ubiquitous. The Halloween decorations come down, and the Christmas lights go up. Store speakers across the land pump out carols, new and old, and the sight of Santa Clause himself crops up everywhere. Though I know this post will go up afterContinue reading “Bah, Humbug!”

Emerging into The Light

Reorienting your perspective after spending a lot of time writing.

Believable Character Development

Characters need development like chocolate formed into a bunny and wrapped in foil to give it color and identity.

Believable Characters: The Commandments of Dramatis Personae

By Brian Kaufman You might already be scanning ahead to read my Ten Commandments. Don’t. This isn’t about what I think. It’s about prodding you to define how you think about your characters (and, by extension, your understanding of human nature).

Poetry Primer: Crafting And Editing

By Shelley Widhalm When I told one of my writer friends I was editing a poetry collection I assembled, he said, “I didn’t know you could edit poetry.” You sure can, but first, to get something to edit, let’s think of poem creation, capturing an experience, thought, or moment in tempo, color, sound, and movement.

The Paradox of Fiction

By Brian Kaufman Years ago, I came home from work to find my wife fussing in front of the refrigerator. I asked what was wrong, and she told me that the quart of milk she’d just purchased was missing. In cases like this, I’d learned to speak to my five-year-old daughter first. Tiger was oftenContinue reading “The Paradox of Fiction”

Calamity Is The Touchstone of A Brave Mind

By Katie Lewis That’s what my fortune cookie said when I cracked it open. Like most people, when we got fortune cookies, I was expecting to laugh. Maybe even twist the fortune with a certain prepositional phrase. Instead, a message sits on my desk, a daily reminder of how far I’ve come in the lastContinue reading “Calamity Is The Touchstone of A Brave Mind”