List Poetry: A Prompt for the Listless

Admit it–sometimes you’d find it easier to pull out your own tooth than write a decent line…

Foul Expression: Recognizing What Stinks in Poetry

Mining Your Memories: Brainstorming Techniques to Unlock the Writer’s Past

Creative Writing Rule #3: Show, don’t tell. (This one is a GENERAL rule–the kind that can be broken.)

Incantations: Using Words for Power and Transformation

The Snap of a Mindful Line Break

A line break is the place where a poet decides to drop to the next line in a poem. It sounds like no…

Creative Writing Rule #4: Make ’em wait.

Holding a reader’s attention depends on withholding information. Writers MUST keep…

The Art of the Steal: Claiming Words from Others

I do not mean to encourage you to plagiarize. Plagiarism is an ignominious, cowardly crime practiced by louts, dullards, and sluggish wannabes. Don’t do it. Ever. You are better than that. But plagiarizing is not the same as stealing, at least…

Dialogue Enhanced — Reversals and Dress Ups

Yesterday we practiced writing dialogue by creating a tense scene between a…

Creative Writing Rule #3: Show, don’t tell. (This one is a GENERAL rule–the kind that can be broken.)

Look at the picture below to see an example of the telling/showing spectrum in writing.