Epistolary. What? Is that even a word? It sounds like a word that would get your mouth washed out with soap if you say it in front of your mother. Is it one of those words? Absolutely not. It's a beautiful word that inspires beautiful writing. Epistolary writing is...
When I was a student in middle school and high school, life was simple: go to class, write down the assignment, complete the warm up, listen to the teacher, take notes, read the assigned passages, answer the questions, turn in your work, and repeat tomorrow. Was every class like this? Didn't any class use other [...]
Allen ran his hand through his short black hair. “They’re not even real.” He turned her back around. “They make a living lying to people, telling them what they want to hear.”
I don't know about you, but one problem for writers is a blank page. What do I write about? This question pops up all too often, and it can keep students from achieving their personal writing goals. Students have loved writing bingo in the past, so I created a Google Form for them to submit [...]
Brenna stepped into the elevator, balancing both coffees in one hand and her office bag in the other in an attempt to locate her keys. She found them as the ding announced the third floor and lifted her elbow in a wave to Naomi as she stepped out.
When you try something new, your expectations are set quite high. Some people give up on the new thing when it becomes too difficult or when the high expectations they set for themselves aren't showing. Last year I decided to join in on the first #FlashFicHive challenge (hosted by Anjela Curtis). This month-long event challenged writers to create [...]
How many of you set goals each year? How many of your goals do you achieve? I set quite a few goals for 2017, and some of them were successful. I hope to be a lot more successful this year by planning out exactly what I need to do to achieve them. I start by [...]
Why are we teaching? What keeps us teaching? What makes us come back after the break (especially after Christmas break)?
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 