Columns

The Pros and Cons of Writing Exercises

January 20th, 2022

I am of two minds on writing exercises when it comes to fiction. On the one hand, I can see how they can spark creativity, and how they may help someone to develop a certain technique. On the other hand, I hate them—anything about writing that’s contrived does not sit well with me.

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What I Do and Don't Think I'll Get Out of My MFA in Writing

January 19th, 2022

Image via Ron Lach  As I write this article, I’m sitting on a Zoom call. It’s populated by more than 20 fellow writers, ranging from established and award-winning authors to MFA-holders to those like me, first semester students at VCFA’s MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults.

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What the Stoics Can Teach Us About Writing

January 18th, 2022

Original image via Wikipedia Commons Stoicism has helped me through a great deal of trouble in my life, and I encourage anyone experiencing pain to consider learning more about the Stoics. An excellent and accessible starting point is Ryan Holiday. He has a wide array of books, podcasts, and YouTube videos that will serve you well. In my research I have found there are a number of lessons from the Stoics we can apply to our writing.

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2022 Horror You Do Not Want to Miss

January 17th, 2022

Quick shoutout once again to Emily Hughes of Tor Nightfire, who does the (dark) Lord's work compiling the horror fiction we can anticipate in the year ahead. You can find ALL THE HORROR WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IN 2022 on the Tor Nightfire Website. Bonus, you can revisit the list from last year and catch up on titles you might have missed. It's a great resource and I use it regularly. For this article, I am showcasing some titles written by women that I am especially eager to get my hands on.

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Storyville: What Makes Your Stories Uniquely You?

January 14th, 2022

In one of my classes last night we were discussing a few stories out of The Best Horror of the Year anthology—one was zombies and the other was vampires. And one of the things that made those stories really pop and stand out to me, as well as the class, was the way that the authors worked to make these stories unique, personal, and compelling in the face of SO MANY zombie and vampire stories over the years. How did they do that? They applied their own personal touches to the stories, and made them their own.

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Exciting YA Releases for the First Half of 2022

January 13th, 2022

Welcome to 2022, fellow bookish nerds! I am so excited to be in this new year, I can’t lie. And part of that excitement stems from the fact that SO STINKING MANY great new books are releasing this year. As someone who positively lives for books—that is the best news. And as someone who especially lives for YA, I thought it’d be fun to collect some YAs I’m stoked for in the first half of the year.

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Debunking The Bad Science of Books and Reading

January 12th, 2022

The joke among readers and writers is that we all got into the arts because we suck at math and science. Sometimes, I’m not so sure it’s a joke. I keep seeing these TERRIBLY unscientific studies about books and reading passed between readers and writers. Studies like these.

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2022: Write A New Beginning for This Story

January 11th, 2022

There are New Year's resolutions like these: Exercise more Eat healthier Meditate first thing in the morning Use a daily planner ...which feel more like socially acceptable lifestyle habits that everyone pretends they're really good at maintaining. The thing is, nobody really follows through, because if they did, they wouldn't need to resolve the same thing every year.

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Stephen King’s 10 Most Underrated Novels From a Guy Who's Read Them All

January 10th, 2022

A few years ago, Richard Chizmar of Cemetery Dance started his Stephen King Revisited effort to reread all of the horror meister's works in the order they were published. He invited others to join him, so I did. A few weeks before the end of 2021, I finished. As of now, I have essentially read everything Stephen King has ever published.

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Revolutionize Your Writer’s Resolutions With Habits That’ll Manifest Your Best Life

January 7th, 2022

Photo by Markus Winkler via Pexels We’ve all said it, “This is the year I finish my novel.” Or worse, “This is the year I write half a million words!” Writers tend to make grand declarations at the start of the New Year, never taking into consideration how to put such ideas into action.

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