How To Close an Open Book Lynda Cohen Loigman I’m an open book. Ask the people who know me best, and that’s what they’ll tell you. I’m not secretive. No one has ever described me as “aloof.” I’ve never answered an invitation with the phrase “I have other plans,” because I’m fine just telling you […]

Aimie K. Runyan When I began writing, my children were very young—4 months and 2 years respectively. Each day at 2 PM, I would tuck them in for their naps and I had three to four hours of uninterrupted writing time. I luxuriated in it, and looking back, I’m glad I did. I would pour […]

Colleen Story Google “perfectionism” and “writers” and you’d think perfectionism was a deadly disease. Pages pop up offering tips for overcoming the “disorder,” warnings for avoiding the “dangerous” tendencies, and help for “dealing” with it. Even the beloved Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird) is quoted as saying: “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the […]

Sierra Godfrey Fong Most writers I know make sounds resembling a dying wildebeest when you mention yet another social media outlet to grapple with. And usually that’s Instagram. We get Facebook (because we have to), and we get Twitter (you get Twitter, right? If not, you’re missing out on wonderful things like #MSWL and #pitchmad!). […]

Kathryn Craft Turning Whine Into Gold “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” wrote Leo Tolstoy in 1877, in the memorable and beloved opening to Anna Karenina. But lately I’ve been wondering if perhaps the opposite isn’t true—that people are happy for all sorts of reasons, but unhappy […]