I want to say a few words about point of view and narrative strategy in fiction, starting with Henry James, from whom I learned so much when I first began trying to teach myself a little about the art of…
Seats at the Table by A’rikka Dion
I remember the day that I decided I wanted to be a writer. I was ten and, although I had long been labeled as “the girl with the books,” it had never occurred to me that I could create my…
The First Draft is for You (Dummy) by Nikki Macahon
I have no shame with sharing the first draft of anything I write, and that’s a problem, because sharing too early destroyed the first draft of my most recent novel. Context: A couple of months ago I finished out my…
Let the Ghosts Crash the Party (It’s More Fun That Way) by Kelsey Ann Kerr
When I was 21, in the fall of my senior year of college at Denison University, my father died. It was unexpected; in a course of weeks he died of liver failure, swift but sudden after years of being overweight…
Suspension of Disbelief by David Massey
Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote of “the willing suspension of disbelief” as being necessary to the enjoyment of a dramatic or literary work. The auditor or reader, he said, has to suspend disbelief if he is to enter the world of…
Poetry and the Patient by Guy Traiber
It’s 2:00 AM and I can’t sleep, although I still don’t know these two facts. At the moment I am simply lost in a darkness, unconsciously fighting to remain in the sweet forgetful sleep which is quickly dissipating, from one…
Sound and Sense by David Massey
I am an autodidact, which means I probably know next to nothing about my chosen craft. I do, however, have a few things to share. I came late to an earnest reckoning with the art of fiction but have made…
Silencing Your Internal Editor by Wendi Dass
The internal editor is an issue for every writer. Either it doesn’t speak enough or it never shuts up. For most, it’s the latter, and this has been the case for me. I call my internal editor Helga, the name…
Writing With and Without Rewards by Brigette Stevenson
Writing is tricky. The process is unique to each writer. And just when you think you understand it, it changes. It churns. It dives. It flows. Following just one route never works. How can you stay the course when the…
A Conversation with Jen Knox
An interview by Alicia Cole. Jen Knox is a writing coach and academic programs manager. Her writing can be found in The Best Small Fictions 2017, edited by Amy Hempel (Braddock Avenue Books), The Short Story America Anthology, Chicago Tribune,…
The Joys of Coming Late to the Table: An Older Writer Shares Life Advice by L Mari Harris
Confession: I am fifty years old, and even though I’ve been writing for decades, I did not start submitting my work until last year. I earned both my undergrad and graduate degrees in English Literature in the late 80s, where…
A Conversation with Ephraim Scott Sommers
An interview by Alicia Cole. A singer-songwriter and poet from Atascadero, California, Ephraim Scott Sommers is the author of The Night We Set the Dead Kid on Fire (Tebot Bach 2017), winner of the 2016 Patricia Bibby First Book Award….