I await ideas and emotions and the words that hold them. I follow my instincts.

A writer’s meditation

What is your footprint? Your fingerprint? Every bit of what you write includes some aspect about you. Writing can be a discovery process for you, or a statement about you. Recognize the beauty in that, that every bit of what you write is inherently valuable for simply those reasons.   Now, understand that some fingerprints

Leave fingerprints

David L. Ulin, Jennifer Nelson, and Kayt Sukel respond. ◊ Meredith: Does rejection have a purpose, as far as creativity is concerned? DAVID L. ULIN: Yes, rejection definitely has a purpose. Sometimes, that purpose is to tell you to work harder. Sometimes, it is to piss you off. Just before I started “The Lost Art

Does rejection have a purpose as far as writing is concerned? 3 creative nonfiction authors, including 1 Guggenheim fellow, respond

There is no one right way to write.  This was my hypothesis when I began The Writer’s [Inner] Journey. The blog has gone on to be name as a top site for writers by scores of websites, and was a finalist for a Bloggie, among other honors. One of the things I love about the

What do you do when you sit down to write and nothing happens? Is it really nothing? 3 novelists respond

Lately I’ve been trying something a little different. Instead of dedicating myself to the writing, I’m dedicating myself to the story. To the bigger picture. This is a big shift for me. I am one (maybe you are, too?) who becomes sentimental about words, sentences, paragraphs I like that I wrote. The issue with such

“The story” or “the writing”

By Polly Campbell I’ve spent most of the morning trying not to write an essay about a family tradition. It’s first on my To Do List. The deadline is a week away, which, for someone who over-ponders just about everything, is not long. I sat down with the intent to knock it out, get’er done,

Like Any Form of Creativity, Writing Is Messy

by Brette SemberThe author of more than 40 books on never giving up, and trusting her instincts. I’ve been a writer for almost fifteen years, but before that I was a lawyer. Sometimes, I compare where I started to where I am now and I am amazed. I’ve just released my latest project, an ebook

Writers: Defy publishing labels

Illustration: Sister Karol Jackowski. Photo by Rahul Pandit

Intuition: That voice inside is always there, waiting

by Amy Paturel I primarily use journals to vent. Writing is a way to release my emotions, understand where they stem from and ultimately grow from them. Essays provide me with a similar cathartic outlet. I use them to delve deeper into an issue and view it from a different perspective. Perhaps not surprisingly, many

Transforming journal entries into essays