Blog

by Tzivia Gover Its cover, the color of tangerines, is pocked with rows of mechanically precise dots. The small brick of a book is girdled with a taut elastic, and when I cinch it closed, it snaps with satisfaction. I slide it into the drawer of my bedside table after recording my dreams in the morning. There it slumbers until …

by Dori Ostermiller A student who recently submitted her essay for publication and was bombarded with rejection letters emailed me the other day: “Does it ever get any easier?” she asked. “Please, tell me it does.” I wanted to reassure her.  I wanted to say that yes, it will for sure get easier.  I wanted to promise that with each …

by Arya Samuelson Aside from simply sitting down to write the damn thing, revision is often considered the most challenging part of writing. That’s because revision is such a nebulous, amorphous process. Everyone can agree that revision is necessary for helping a story or book become the strongest version of itself, but how do we accomplish that? How do we …

by Susanne Dunlap Planning ahead is especially important when you’re writing a historical novel—whether it’s based on family or local history or anything else. Why? Because there are plenty of research rabbit holes and world-building pitfalls you can avoid, or at least mitigate, if you’ve thought through the broad strokes first. That doesn’t mean you can’t follow your instincts and …