A lot of my students are coming to an interesting moment in their writing. They’re nearing the end of their drafts – long, hard-earned manuscripts that they’ve been crafting for months – sometimes years. But they know they’re not finished. In fact, their first sentence…
Jason Allen Ashlock may not like to call himself an expert, but we at The Writers Circle refuse to consider him anything else. Who but a true digital visionary could take the shaky landscape of modern-day publishing and map such a clear, precise picture of…
“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…
In our last post, we invited all our students to submit short stories about our crazy new characters, Amelia, Maurice and Felix. But here, I want to take a minute to speak to many of you who – like me – like to write A…
by Christina Kapp In book publishing, editors and agents will often refer to a book “finding it’s home” at the right publishing “house.” These are good analogies, because they imply that your fledgling novel, story, or poem will need to do some work looking for…
by Daniele Walker, TWC Program Coordinator Our first week of Summer Intensives is underway. Twenty-five students, ages 10-17, are doing what they came for: writing, writing, writing. The experience definitely has been intense so far with morning warm-ups, genre workshops with some of TWC’s finest…
When my son got lice a few years ago – quite common among the elementary school set – I came to appreciate the true meaning of “nitpicking”. Plucking those tiny, disgusting nits from the roots of his baby fine hair was tedious, but necessary work.…
Every writer I know disparages 50 Shades of Grey. Many, like me, will do so even without ever having read a line of the book. I mean, bestseller or not, everyone knows it’s just porn, right? But sex is, and has always been, a compelling…
This is a continuation of the past two posts on surviving – no, succeeding in the challenging new publishing environment. Check out Brave New World of Words – Part I and What I Learned at Author (R)evolution Day – Part II, to see how the…
This is a continuation of last week’s post on the changing publishing landscape. Check out Brave New World of Words to see where I began. The first question each of us must ask ourselves is, “Is self-publishing for me?” Eve Bridburg, founder of Boston’s Grub…
I couldn’t decide if it was my personal “coming out party” for my latest book or my moment to come to terms with reality. But with a new novel very nearly ready to share, I knew I had to get back in touch with the…
The Writers Circle is thrilled to welcome nonfiction writer and journalist, Lisa Romeo, to our roster of inspiring instructors. Here Lisa shares her perspectives on Hurricane Sandy, but more, she shows how, when we write about our lives, we can delve into universal truths that…
