Walking through fog. With the headlamp on. Low. Paraphrasing a quote from E.L. Doctorow. This is what it’s like to write a novel. I keep telling myself that as I move forward, ever so slowly. These first infantile steps, as if I’ve never taken them…
Amidst the sense-bombarding chaos at the annual Summit Street Fair, one of the ways The Writers Circle draws attention to our booth is through our Add-a-Line story board. “Want to help us write our story?” we call out as kids and parents stream by. “We’re…
On Friday, I finished my revisions. Again. At last. (It had better be!) No, I don’t share this fact for cheers, though I appreciate them, truly. I share it because so many of you – in my own Writers Circle classes or those of our…
by Heidi Sussman, TWC Adult Student After hearing about it for a while, I decided that 2014 was the year to take the NaNoWriMo challenge. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) happens every November when people commit to writing 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. To…
Well, folks, it’s almost Thanksgiving, quite possibly my favorite holiday. First and foremost I’m always grateful to my family for being the continual force for good that they are, and this year, I must especially thank my brother and sister-in-law for offering up their home…
Thanks to Christina Kapp, who facilitates TWC’s Poets Circle and teaches our Wednesday Young Storymakers class, for sharing her retreat journal with us! Friday It was definitely not a good time to disappear for the weekend. School had just started for my kids and I…
by Alex, age 14, Summer Intensive Writer This essay was written following the Summer Creative Writing Intensive’s visit to the Deserted Village in Watchung Reservation on July 23. Through the bus window I can smell the unmistakable, impenetrable scent of soil. As we climb out,…
No matter how old you are, it’s been a tough winter. The prospect of school extending into summer is crushing our youngest writers’ spirits. And you parents out there are no doubt going stir-crazy with the kids at home. So we at The Writers Circle…
One of my teen writers was talking to me about a book she was reading this past week. In the space of three sentences, she had diagnosed why the writer’s technique was working and – even more importantly ― applied what he had done to…
“How to become a bestseller?” It’s the second question on every writer’s mind, right after “How do I get published in the first place?” No matter how many optimistic articles one reads, there’s no magic formula. According to TWC guest speaker Christina Baker Kline, when…
by Jennifer Walkup I started writing stories as a young girl, became serious about it in high school, and dug deeper into the craft in college and then graduate school. While I had a few short stories published in college and graduate school, I found…
It’s time to spruce a few things up here at The Writers Circle. We’ve been using our authentic antique images since 2010. Now it’s time to move into the 21st century. (Well, sort of.) Thanks to the tremendous artistic talents of our very own Amanda…
