The Writing Craft
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Writing Prompts, Revisited
In my previous post, “Wondering What to Write About? Try These Prompts,” I listed ten writing prompts that I have offered my creative nonfiction writing students to help them overcome their anxiety as they approach a blank page. Sometimes writers need a nudge from outside of their own minds to get them started. A prompt… Continue reading
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Put the Person on the Page with a Collage Essay
Try this. Consider that subject about which you have had trouble writing. A difficult experience, a problematic person in your life, an emotionally challenging circumstance. That subject that you want to write about, but when you try, the writing turns out dull, awkward, or lifeless. Yes, you know the subject. Rather than trying to write… Continue reading
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Update on the 25,000 Words of Winter Challenge
Today is the deadline for my writing challenge. I’m both disappointed and happy to report that I was able to write 19,000 words. Disappointed because I didn’t reach my word count goal, but very happy about the writing that I completed during the challenge. And I believe that I benefited from this experiment in a… Continue reading
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Three Ways to Energize Your Writing
In my creative nonfiction writing classes, I conduct workshops in which students read and provide feedback on their classmates’ first drafts of writing assignments. The writers then use the feedback they receive to plan and write revisions of their work. In these workshops, I prompt my students to look for the “hot spot” in a… Continue reading
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In a Writing Rut? Try Using a Writing Formula
I’ve always thought that I would like to have a writing partner. I envision a co-writer, someone to share a writing project with me, someone with whom I could collaborate. Or perhaps just another writer with whom I could cultivate a relationship of mutual support and encouragement. Most of us write alone. We may or… Continue reading
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25.000 Words of Winter: Update
On February 17, after reading Jami Attenberg’s book 1000 Words, I committed to writing 1000 words, four to five days a week, to reach a total of 25,000 words by April 1. This is my first update on the project. I’m happy to say that I almost reached my goal. I know, almost doesn’t count.… Continue reading
Do you write about yourself and your experiences? Do you write about traumatic events in your life? Or, do you struggle to find time and motivation to write?
If so, this blog is for you.
Person on the Page 