Writing & Writers
A POEM by Kathryn Brown Ramsperger
The threat of war with Russia has been with me all my life. In a nutshell: The Soviet Union was formed in 1922, the year my father was born. It sent missiles to Cuba in 1962, when I was 4, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis. We had community nuclear drills. Some wealthy families build bomb shelters.…
Read MoreHow to Use Your Intuition To Be More Creative
You’re on deadline, and you’re behind. You’re sitting at your keyboard, tapping letters then hitting delete. Over and over. Only an hour left. Why can’t you just get the words out? You decide to take a walk before you confess to your boss you’ll be late. You’re imagining your promotion going down the drain. Then!…
Read More7 Story Plot Ideas For Creating An Unforgettable Novel
Whether you’re new to fiction writing or it’s an old hat, you’ll want to capture the attention of your readers right immediately. Unlike generations past, today’s readers work fulltime, have more than one job, are raising a family, and more. They don’t have the luxury of leisure time. The not-so-good news: books are competing against…
Read MoreHow To Identify And Maintain Your Core Audience
Perhaps you’ve thought about writing a memoir or novel for some time, or maybe you already started. It’s both exciting and intimidating. A thousand ideas are running through your head about story lines and characters, anecdotes to include, and experiences to write about. Yet before you go any farther, there are some important things to…
Read MoreHow To Write An Unforgettable Novel
What makes a good, unforgettable novel? Better yet, what makes a good, unforgettable novel great? Think of all the books you’ve read over the years; which ones stand out? What novels were real page-turners and which ones did you shelf or give away after drudging through the first three chapters? Was it the characters that…
Read MoreIs Your Narrative Is A Good Story To Tell?
Everyone has a story of some transformational event in their lives, something that helped shape them into the person they’ve become. Your story could be dramatic, like experiencing a death or loss, growing up in an abusive home, discovering a sibling you never knew about, or winning the lottery. Or perhaps it’s more subtle, though no less impactful, like…
Read MoreNavigate Relationships At Work in Covid Times
Home sweet home. It’s difficult enough bringing home into the workplace, but bringing work into the “homeplace” creates challenges of its own. These challenges can become overwhelming if not identified and addressed. The Covid-19 pandemic presented a new way of doing things, from shopping, business, pleasure, schooling, work life, homelife—and perhaps most significantly, relationships. The…
Read MoreHow To Shop For A Writing Coach To Finish Your Project
Whether you’re at the beginning, middle, or end of your writing project, it’s not too late to hire a writing coach. The advantages are not a few. They can help you develop a logical outline for your book, identify your audience, set clear goals, and strategize a publishing and marketing plan, among other things (see…
Read MoreWhat Are The Core Elements Of A Memoir?
When you begin writing your memoir, it’s important to understand it isn’t an autobiography. It’s sometimes tempting to include all the amazing things you’ve experienced in your life, but a memoir is not meant to be a timeline of your life up until the present. It isn’t a description of your history. So what are…
Read MoreFour Things To Consider Before Telling Your Story To The World
A part of you wants to write about your experience, yet another part is cautious. On the one hand, you believe your story will resonate with many people. On the other, you’re not sure you want your life to be open to public scrutiny. As a writer, I try to exercise caution because I know…
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