There are several sure-fire things I do when I feel stuck and can’t write as fluidly as I’d like…sometimes I resort to my magic books.
Craft: Magic Books by Donna Steiner
Category: Craft
Our Craft column archive, which features an array of guest contributors.
Craft: WWELD* by Risa Nye
After Elmore Leonard died in August at the age of 87, it was hard to avoid one version or another of his Ten Rules for Writing … Just for fun, I’d like to go through a few of these rules and add my two cents.
Craft: The Internet Conundrum by Michael Suppa
“Our people did a thorough Internet search on you,” the editor from the conservative publishing house told me.
Craft: Getting to There by Risa Nye
Every story, every essay we write is a journey. It starts here, goes along for a while, and ends where we say it ends. But what if we start this journey with no idea where it’s going?
Craft: Commence(ment) by Donna Steiner
Although many of my friends are accomplished writers, I am most often around young writers, beginning writers.
Craft: One Famous Fowl’s Trek into Traffic and What the Writer Can Glean from It
Ah, that famous chicken, the one that crossed the road! We never really find out why it did what it did.
Craft: Back to the Beginning by Risa Nye
Last time, I wrote an essay about endings—and for this issue I decided to write about beginnings. Topsy-turvy thinking, or all part of my careful plan? Let’s go with the topsy-turvy thinking. But I have a great excuse for going in reverse order: once again, I’ve been given food for thought by some excellent writers.
Craft: Square One by Donna Steiner
There were no ideas, no sparks; the fallow months were piling up with alarming rapidity.
Craft: Making a List by Risa Nye
For me, a list is like a life preserver, something to keep me afloat when I feel like I’m sinking under the weight of “shoulds” and “gotta’s.”
Craft: All’s Well if it Ends Well by Risa Nye
If I had to name the most challenging aspects of writing—no matter if we’re talking about fiction or nonfiction—nailing the ending would come at the top of the list, followed by “getting started” and “doing the middle bit.” Coming up with the right ending can throw a writer into a tizzy.
