Structure vs Polish

Years before I sat down in my first writing class, I took a lot of painting studios in college. At some point, I noticed a pattern to my work: I’d start with charcoal, sketching my subject on the canvas, and by the time I worked my way from the head down to the legs, there […]

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Heart-writing. A technique for bringing your heart to the page.

The past months of writing have been a journey into deep emotions for me, and I’ve found myself reflecting on a technique for engaging in deep thought and connecting those deep feelings to my writing. “Heart writing is my name for a specific type of side writing. It’s the practice of creating a meditative space […]

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Sharing some craft thoughts

I wrote a couple of posts for the SCBWI Carolinas’ Blog and wanted to share them in one place: Emotional Resonance was the holy grail of my MFA experience. I captured a few thoughts in this post (it was *hard* to keep it to under 1000 words! so much to say about this topic!) If […]

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Changing my story.

Sixteen months ago, I started writing something that would change my story, but I didn’t know it at the time. The pandemic had already changed everything. My oldest college-aged kid was back home, my high schooler was at home, and so was I. This was not the plan. I needed something to distract me from […]

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Writing Historical Fiction (or, how I learned to love constraints and inconvenient facts)

I swore I’d never, ever write historical fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading it, but do you realize how much work those writers have to do? Like all good stories, I set off on one journey not knowing I’d end up a changed person at the end of the trail. My grandmother left […]

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MFA Lesson Two: Stretch Yourself

When I started my MFA, I had a goal: I was going to learn how to write good middle-grade fiction, by golly. I love goals. (This is why my family avoids me on January 1st.) I set about achieving this goal with my usual dose of enthusiasm. I scoured the faculty list, I read their […]

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Six tips for Post-MFA life

Congratulations, July graduates! You just finished up two years of intense work and personal growth. Six months ago I walked across a stage to receive my MFA. Six months and one pandemic ago. You had a virtual graduation that embodied the spirit of community and dedication that the MFA experience brings. So much has changed in […]

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MFA Lesson One: The Writer’s Mindset

I sat down a few days ago, fully intending to start a collection of posts to share some lessons learned from my MFA program, but then my shower started leaking. Water streaming from the ceiling, down the cupboard, and pooling on the floor leaking. Talk about a procrastination opportunity! I mopped, I cleaned, I wiped […]

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Was the MFA Worth It? (spoiler alert: Yes!)

My phone pinged this morning with a text. The first words out of my mouth were, “What’s that? The airline telling me my flight’s cancelled?” Turns out…. That’s the power of putting words out there. So here I am, in the airport with a long layover, feeling grateful that I’ll be home by the end […]

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What the Author Isn’t Saying

As readers, we’re drawn though a book because we care about the character, or we want to know what happens. But for a book that is a meditation on grief, something else has to pull us through this dark and potentially boggy place. In We Are Okay, Nina LaCour offers a handful of narrative threads […]

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