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JOIN US IN EXPLORING OTHERS' CRAFT AND BUILDING OUR OWN

The four years of creating that original manuscript were the hardest and most humbling of my entire career. But my journey is also a reminder that there are a lot of different paths to publication.

Learning craft will always set writers off on the strongest foot.

by Jen Jobart Here’s a first taste of our curated retrospective. First posted in December 2018, Jen’s post recommends some great listening to get your craft juices flowing. We invite you to read, and then listen. –Anne-Marie Like everyone else these days, I keep busy.  I don’t currently have a paying job, but I’m the […]

commentary by Jackie Friedman Mighdoll Hey girl, You were just on Twitter and you saw someone’s happy news. A new book acquired by a great publisher! You liked the tweet—because a) you celebrate other writers and b) the book sounds super cool and you’d like to read it. But in the darkest pit of your […]

guest post by Naomi Kinsman A couple days ago, I stood in front of a third grade classroom acting out a scene between a giant and a young girl, complete with action and dialogue. Afterward, in our class discussion and in one-on-one conversations, the youth writers and I unpacked specificity of voice, gesture, subtext, tone, […]

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we’re sending you some books we love! These are books that have inspired us as writers and helped us to reimagine our writing processes as well as shape our writing lives. May you too be inspired.   Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. It just came at the right […]

by Jen Jobart Like everyone else these days, I keep busy.  I don’t currently have a paying job, but I’m the primary caretaker for two kids – one who I homeschool, and one who goes to a parent participation school, where I teach writing to my son’s fellow fourth graders.  Someone literally always needs something […]

Guest Post by Mae Respicio Truth: the act of writing is a solitary one. It’s just you, your idea, and your voice hashing it out on the blank page. I love the magical moments that can come from this process, but I’ve also wondered what it might be like to tackle the feat of writing […]

After years ghost writing and writing the Animorphs series, Katherine Applegate set out to write what she called a “real novel”–what turned out to be Home of the Brave. We were lucky enough to have Katherine visit our group in person to share her wisdom and insight and stories. We’ve collected some highlights from the […]