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…

“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…

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.…

First, my apologies for letting this blog languish these last few weeks. We’ve been busy with holidays, planning for spring and summer, and yes, actually WRITING. In fact, that’s the topic I’ll focus on in this first entry for 2013: Finger Biting Days. I know…

I have been pondering the pace at which I write my novels. I’d thought that I’d been working on this latest book for five years now, until I realized just today that in fact it’s edging past six, since Memorial Day half a dozen years…

I’ve been kind of quiet lately on the blog that I began, but there’s a reason. With everything growing on steroids here at TWC, I’ve been stealing what little free time I have to DO MY OWN WRITING! Yes, I have not given up and…

OK, here I go again with the writer’s perfect gift. It is, this year, every year, forever and always, simply time. I wrote about it a couple of years ago, and I still cannot stress enough how absolutely true it is. But last time I…

More on Revision from TWC’s Associate Director, Michelle Cameron. If you missed Part 1, check it out here. Once you are satisfied that the structure, character development, story arc and descriptions stand up to scrutiny, it’s time for… STEP #3 – SEE THE TREES (and…

No, this is not an announcement. I am not even thinking about giving up on my novel. In fact, revisions are going rather nicely. Though I’ve been inundated with other obligations over the last two weeks, when I return to my manuscript, I see that…

The web of support that frames my life as a writer was first anchored in a writing workshop taught by Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time. Sitting at the feet of the author of one of the most influential books of my childhood,…

Plotting is a delicate balance of intention, intuition and flexibility, of knowing what path to follow without losing track of all the other forks in the road. We generally sense our story’s direction – its main thrust and the ultimate objective of our tale. But…

All of us struggle with revision. It is undoubtedly the most anguished part of the writer’s craft. Earlier this week, one of our Circle bemoaned the challenge. “I wrote the entire manuscript in a few months. Now it’s taking me weeks just to revise a…