Category: Guest Article

Funny Things by Jennifer deBie

Being a novelist is a funny thing. It’s a funny thing for a whole host of reasons, but the funniness of it struck me particularly hard this past weekend, when I realized at 1:32AM Saturday morning that I was stone-cold sober, and earnestly researching… Continue Reading “Funny Things by Jennifer deBie”

Inspiration by Donald Furrow-Scott

  After four years of writing four novels and fully outlining four more, a calm is overcoming my muse this summer. It is not a fit of writer’s block, in fact, quite the opposite. Nor is it some f​uror poeticus​ that will result in… Continue Reading “Inspiration by Donald Furrow-Scott”

Thoughts on writing a collection of interlinked stories by Elizabeth Merry

Carey Harrison, novelist and playwright, said once, that if you get into the habit of writing novels, short stories, plays, or television scripts, then every idea you get turns itself into the appropriate length. And to avoid that, you should aim for different lengths,… Continue Reading “Thoughts on writing a collection of interlinked stories by Elizabeth Merry”

Following Hollywood on location by Richard Starks

Write what you know. That’s one of the rules for creating good fiction, so as much as possible you should draw on your own first-hand experiences. Not easy to do when you’re writing historical fiction (unless you’re two hundred years old), in which case… Continue Reading “Following Hollywood on location by Richard Starks”

Reality is Elusively Absurd by Brian Petkash

Reality is elusively absurd. To render in art the every day, the rhythm, and meter of life, can be a fool’s errand. One must first set out to define what is real, it seems, and then develop a method of sending one’s fictional reality… Continue Reading “Reality is Elusively Absurd by Brian Petkash”

Literary Devices Make Writers Giggle by John Espie

Back when I was taking Lit classes, I kept learning about allegory and extended metaphors and allusions and lots of other fancy words, and the whole time I couldn’t help but think, Are these professors taking this stuff way more seriously than the actual writers did?

Writing the Gift Story by Alex Bernstein

No one likes staring at a blank page. Fortunately, many writers cultivate all sorts of prompts and tools to conquer that authorial vacuum as much as possible – whether it be leaving the previous day’s writing off on a cliffhanger – or maintaining an… Continue Reading “Writing the Gift Story by Alex Bernstein”

Interview With Kathy Davis

Probably the poem that closes Passiflora, “Girls, She Falcons, Be Thin: Let Us Work Ourselves Asleep Against You,” because the hawk’s rise at the end feels so hopeful. Also, the title comes from a book of poetry someone gave me as a gift when… Continue Reading “Interview With Kathy Davis”

Writing Even When You Don’t Think You Can By Kristin Durfee

Writing a novel can sometimes it can feel like being in one of those old cartoons where the character makes this herculean effort to get to the top of a mountain…only to see thousands of other mountains along the horizon.