Over the last couple of months I’ve noticed something disturbing on Facebook—lots of my writer friends have been attending writing retreats. Why disturbing? Because I haven’t been able to go to any (cue violins). I read once that a writing retreat is to creativity, what a good nights sleep is to physical well-being. With the […]

Last week, I saw an infographic in GalleyCat titled, J.R.R. Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Writers, and was so inspired. What if he'd never written his books? What if there had been no Hobbits and no Gandalf, no Legolas or Frodo? The world of story would be an entirely different place. Our stories matter. They really do. 10 Tips from the “Master […]

 I don't "do" poetry. In my first writing class–a seminar style graduate-level class for English majors (what was I thinking?)–this math major freaked when I was handed a long poem and told I'd be leading a discussion about it. The professor gave me advice that I still use for finding the significant takeaways from articles […]

My favorite quote is from Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture (if you haven’t read that small book, you should - it’s incredibly inspiring). “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we […]

Kathryn Craft Turning Whine into Gold In our ongoing look at what wisdom Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements can offer writers, we come to agreement number three. [Click here for Agreement 1 and Agreement 2.] Don’t Make Assumptions Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others […]