Master and Servant: My Outline and Me
My classmates called it my spreadsheet. It was a little embarrassing that to write a novel I needed a chart. 3 columns x 76 rows = 228 fields of information that I made myself fill in. I didn’t want to…
Category: Writing Advice
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…
When the Black Dog Bites: How to Write When You’re Depressed
The cliché of the depressed writer can seem almost romantic to someone who has never tried to put pen to paper or been in the thrall of senseless emotional suffering. But for those of us who wish to write, depression…
Six Reasons Why Novelists Should Read A Lot
It’s a commonplace that novelists—especially aspiring novelists—should read a lot, and, more specifically, read lots of novels. It goes hand-in-glove, right? A certain number of people who love reading stories will eventually decide, wisely or not, to try their hand…