Why are we teaching? What keeps us teaching? What makes us come back after the break (especially after Christmas break)?
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Scrambling before NaNoWriMo… Author Toolbox
NaNoWriMo... Gibberish, right? That's not even a word. How do you say it? To writer's, it is the month when the entire world ceases to exist... when life on Earth becomes a distant figment of our imagination... when we forget all the other hobbies we had if they don't include a notebook, a pen, or [...]
Why I Write…
People write for all sorts of reasons every single day: send a text or email, leave or make a note, finish something for work or school, jot down a recipe, send a letter, balance a checkbook, make a grocery list, etc. I, too, write America. As a writer and teacher of writing, I'm also excited [...]
When Writing Takes a Backseat – Author Toolbox
If your September has been anything like my September, then you have been a busy bee. School started, so my days are filled with teaching, lesson planning, and after-school activities. (Thank you #51Writers for today's topic of Oxford commas. As you can see, I am definitely on #teamoxfordcomma!) The problem... Okay, so we're busy. What [...]
Book Review: Chasing Eveline
As you may have guessed from previous posts, I love Twitter. I have found wonderful writing communities, teaching communities, and people who share my interests, too. Every now and then, interesting tweets will pop up via one of the daily hashtags, and you will have no choice but to acknowledge them. One such tweet entered [...]
Micropoetry When Life Is Busy…
School started here this week, so I've been quite busy learning new names and faces, teaching classroom procedures, setting up notebooks, and encouraging a variety of writing from the very beginning. Since I've been busy with school, I haven't been writing a whole lot... Okay, I haven't been writing at all. I don't have writer's [...]
Writing Goals for the Classroom
We all know that goals are important in our lives; they give us a purpose. Students need that, too. They need a purpose in the classroom, one they choose. I've been incorporating writing goals in our class for the last couple years. They have changed significantly from when I started due to student feedback and [...]
5 Steps on the Journey to the First Draft — Author Tool Box
What can I share for this month's Toolbox? What can I write about that could be even slightly helpful to other writers? I've been trying to answer this question for a few weeks in preparation for this post, but I still didn't have an answer until recently. Someone suggested I write a brainstorm about zombies... [...]
I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award!
I've been nominated! Woohoo!! I've been nominated for the Liebster Award! I've been nominated for the -- wait a second... What exactly is the Liebster Award? The Liebster Award Questions. I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Dianna Gunn, but I was left with questions. What is this award? Who's it for? Why pick [...]
3 Steps for Writing a Poem
Poetry: a mellifluous word all by itself. Does it sound so beautiful the first time it's written down, though? Or is there a process for writing poetry? That's a hard question to answer. Some poets will say no. Others will say yes. The answer, however, depends on you and the purpose of your poem. For [...]
4 Essentials for a Writer’s Toolbox
My dad was a mechanic. He had several giant red toolboxes in his shop, another giant one at home, and a medium-sized one in his car. Each one was filled with a variety of tools he could use to fix any kind of vehicle. Some of those tools I had never even heard of until [...]
Book Review: A Modern Witch
Quite a few years ago I came across a wonderful book series with fascinating characters and plot elements, both of which gave readers a new way to look at the world of witches. This is my review of the first novel in the series, which I highly recommend! Review In her series premiere of A [...]
3 Personal Fallacies of Writing a First Draft – Author Toolbox
Too many ideas. A writer's best friend or worst enemy? We can ask the same thing of a first draft. Our hearts start racing and our minds start whirring after the first few sentences. We know we've got this. When does that feeling end? How many of these first drafts do we have? How many [...]
Searching for Support: 2 Things You Need When You Marry a Writer
No matter what we're trying to accomplish, we hope for the support of our friends and family to see us through all the ups and downs of our adventures. Sometimes, that support is a lot closer to home than we thought. I have all sorts of support: parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, and other writers, but [...]
Avoiding Writer’s Block in 4 Steps
We've all heard of the mysterious writing condition that strikes writer's at the most in-opportune moments: Writer's Block. However, not every writer suffers from this epidemic. Some find their way around it before it even starts. How can they possibly overcome it before it starts? Do these ideas work after it's started? I am a [...]
The Wonderful World of Writer’s Notebooks
Teaching writing to middle school students has taught me many things, but one lesson screams the loudest: writer's need to write. I already knew this, right? I'm also a writer, so I had to already have known this. Of course I did, but it was never more true for me as a writer as it [...]
Conquering the Writing Process in 7 Steps
The Writing Process. We've all heard of it. We know what it is. We know why it's used. We know that it's often the bane of our existence. Why does the combination of those three words fill us with dread? Shouldn't they excite us and fill us with wonder? They are here for us, the [...]
“Who are you?” – Writing under a pen name…
Are the lyrics ringing in your ears now? Do you "really want to know" the answer? Do you have a pen name, a name other than your own, that you use for writing? Why... A few years ago, an author I admire decided to stop writing the series she was working on. It was an [...]
Immortal Words of a Mortal Writer 