Last week, my fifth-grade reading group and I finished a classic novel. I’m not going to say which one it was because I’m not going to say very nice things about it. The story itself was fine. It followed a classic narrative structure and was occasionally gripping. The problem was… Well, it was boring in…
I participate in a Twitter chat called #TweepWriter. It’s a community where writers answer a different question every day throughout the month. Today was day 20, so this was the question: What was the first thing (poem, short story, book, blog post, etc) you ever wrote about? I think I misunderstood the question because I…
I saw an interesting image on Facebook this morning. I’ve been chewing on it all day and decided maybe “The Block” is reserved for creative pursuits – creating something from nothing can go off the rails sometimes. Are Painter’s Block and Quilter’s Block a thing? Allow me to offer my answer with a little story.…
Before I get started on today’s topic, I want to express a huge thank you to everyone who supported my fundraiser for Houston disaster relief or gave directly to an organization that will help people in need. We are seeing the best of America coming through every day, and if there’s a silver lining to…
Welcome to Part 4 of our blogging mini-series on where writers get stuck, which launched after I ran this poll on Twitter. The results were close enough that I decided to spend time on each one, in addition to a Super Secret Place Writers Get Stuck That’s So Super Secret I Didn’t Put It On…
Welcome to Part 3 of our Where Writers Get Stuck mini-series, inspired by this Twitter poll. Be sure to check Part 1 and Part 2 for solutions to planning and drafting problems. Today is where we put on a different hat, going from writer to publisher. Don’t freak out. We’re using the term “publisher” loosely.…
Welcome to Part 2 of our blog mini-series on where writers get stuck, based on this poll I took on Twitter. We started with Planning, though today’s topic is closely related – so closely, in fact, that Dan combined them in his response to Part 1. Drafting issues are often the result of planning issues.…
I took a poll on Twitter last week. My idea was to take the “winning” category and blog about it. You can see Drafting came out ahead, but you can also see the number of votes was rather low. So while it looks like Drafting came out significantly ahead, it’s probably only one or two…
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the release of the first Harry Potter book. Twitter and other social media platforms teemed with memories and thoughts about the series and its author, J. K. Rowling. There’s an inspirational “keep on keeping on” story about how many times Rowling was rejected by agents and publishers before someone…
I went to the coolest place today. These displays are part of the Michael Garman Museum and Gallery. They are a vast collection of the artist’s work, set up in a miniature city called Magic Town. I’m sharing the experience with you because one thing (or rather thousands of little things) kept me glued to…
Allison Maruska 