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Inspired by Poetry and Nature – our special Earth Month/Poetry Month workshop with poet Catherine Doty

Inspired by Poetry and Nature – our special Earth Month/Poetry Month workshop with poet Catherine Doty

Nature was smiling on us this past Sunday for our nature-inspired and very special workshop, “The Nature of Poetry,” taught by award-winning poet Catherine Doty. Cat led writers and poets through creative prompts and poetry exercises to celebrate National Poetry Month and Earth Month together. There…

Focus on Flash Fiction: What It Is and What It Can Do for Your Writing

Focus on Flash Fiction: What It Is and What It Can Do for Your Writing

Award-winning author Libby Cudmore has been teaching at The Writers Circle since 2018. Her virtual class on short stories and flash fiction always gets rave reviews. But what exactly is flash fiction? And why should every writer give it a try? Here’s what Libby told…

This Stand-Up Comic Helps Writers Turn Life Into Laughs

This Stand-Up Comic Helps Writers Turn Life Into Laughs

Holly Rizzuto Palker’s journey with The Writers Circle started back in 2012 as a student. Since then, she embarked on a career as a writer, editor, podcast host, and stand-up comic. Now, she’s TWC’s newest instructor, helping others learn the craft of humor writing. “Even…

Kate McKean Teaches Us to Write Through It

Kate McKean Teaches Us to Write Through It

Literary agent and author Kate McKean, knows what it means to “Write Through It.” At last Sunday’s virtual event, she shared her best advice for managing distractions, insecurities, creative struggles, and publishing uncertainties to keep writing even when life gets in the way. Kate focused…

How a YA Romance Author Fell in Love with Writing

How a YA Romance Author Fell in Love with Writing

Young Adult author Talia Tucker never planned to be a writer, but she fell in love it. Here, she talks about what inspires her: Conversations, culture, and K-pop. Plus, she gives us a peek at her unique writing process and shares what every writer can…

Writers Light the Darkest Night with Words

Writers Light the Darkest Night with Words

By Erin Madigan White Writers came from across suburban New Jersey – from Madison, Montclair, West Orange, as far away as Princeton – to gather together for The Writers Circle’s inaugural Winter Solstice Candlelight Write on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.  They spent the darkest night…

April Darcy on the Simple Reminder That Motivates Her to Write

April Darcy on the Simple Reminder That Motivates Her to Write

April Darcy just wrapped up teaching The Writers Circle’s novel-writing boot camp–a six-week intensive workshop focused on writing as much as you can as fast as you can. It’s fair to say she knows a thing or two about pushing her limits on the page.…

Why the Carpool Could Be the Secret to Better Characters

Why the Carpool Could Be the Secret to Better Characters

By Erin Madigan White I don’t love driving the carpool. I don’t care for stinky cleats or the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack. I’m exhausted by the endless loops to soccer practice and dance lessons, which are cosmically aligned with dinner-time, siblings’ activities, and work calls.…

Fifteen Years of the Best Job of My Life

Fifteen Years of the Best Job of My Life

by Michelle Cameron, Co-Director Emerita (cross-posted from Substack) I was weeping almost daily on my way to my 9-5 job, hating being hemmed in by corporate rules and regulations, wishing desperately to reinvent myself, to live what I wistfully called “the writing life.” After I…

What Every Writer Can Steal From Crime Fiction

What Every Writer Can Steal From Crime Fiction

Mally Becker is the award-winning author of the Revolutionary War mysteries, including The Turncoat’s Widow, The Counterfeit Wife, and The Paris Mistress. She was an attorney until happily trading in her law license to become a full-time writer. Here she talks about secrets, suspense, stakes,…

Writers Let Creativity Take Flight at Autumn Retreat

Writers Let Creativity Take Flight at Autumn Retreat

Almost 30 writers from around New Jersey gathered at Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge, on Sunday, Oct. 26, for The Writers Circle annual Autumn Mini-Retreat.  The day opened with a welcome and words of inspiration from TWC Co-Directors Judith Lindbergh and Michelle Cameron.  “If…

Liz Alterman: How One Memoir Class Changed Everything

Liz Alterman: How One Memoir Class Changed Everything

Liz Alterman is the author of the award-winning memoir, Sad Sacked, the young adult thriller, He’ll Be Waiting, the suspense novels The Perfect Neighborhood, The House on Cold Creek Lane, and You Shouldn’t Have Done That, as well as the romcom Claire Casey’s Had Enough. Here,…