Category: Writing Advice

15 Ways to Revive the Writer Within

For those of us without many writing credits to our name and audacious enough to attempt longer-length fiction, the mantel of “writer” is heavy and may be hard to own completely once we stick our toes into the competitive world…

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A Little Perspective

This is what I did this weekend: walked the dogs into Harvard Square, cleaned up my kitchen, shopped on Newbury St., read the Sunday New York Times, watched the first three episodes of Orange is the New Black, and booked…

Cardinal Sins of Character Development

Nothing makes me stop reading a novel faster than a poorly realized protagonist. Why? Because that character is the guide to a new world, and if he lacks credibility the whole story does too. Below, I have listed some examples…

Stories in the Attic

For those of you who read my October 10, 2013 entry (“Purposeful Hoarding”), you will know of my penchant for hanging onto things (not so much balls of string as the archives of my life.) Somewhere in a box (probably…

Knitting Stories (and Sweaters)

I’ve become a knitter. I’ve learned alongside my mentor, Stacie, who says things like, “It’s not hard. It’s just about making loops.  Loops and loops.” Over the past year, I’ve progressed from making scarves to knitting a sweater, which I’m…