Category Archives: writing

Writers can often be their worst enemies. I’m not sure if it’s particularly true of writers or just a truth of all humans, but it seems writers can often shut doors of opportunity without trying. I’ve been contemplating this ever since I sat down to talk to an editor about several of his tactics for [...]

by Tabitha Grace Smith Kisses rarely happened like this. Raquel knew this logically and empirically, but standing out in the rain, her hair slicked back and her fingertips freezing, she realized she didn’t care what she knew. Thomas’ kiss took her by surprise; they had been walking, looking for a bus to take them back [...]

Here’s the assignment: Your two-page story must be written in the THIRD PERSON, must be written in the PRESENT TENSE, and must be written entirely IN ACTION—what can be SEEN. No dialog. No inner thoughts. You are a camera. Sitting in a large, LA Metro bus are three African-American girls. They sit towards the back [...]

Out from Under the Bed by Tabitha Grace Smith There’s nothing about Tola that screams of her importance. China white skin gleams except for a long dark smudge along her leg. Zosia touches the synthetic curls with a finger and lets her eyes lose focus. Tola’s eyes are blue, bright and unblinking. It was a [...]

I never know what I’m going to write when I get a topic. Though I often try to puzzle it out before I start. Once fingertips are on keys it just comes (or doesn’t). But I often have the “jump to the end” mentality that tries to anticipate where my writing will go. It’s as [...]

Talking about space and routine is kind of like asking what makes the sea come in and out. There’s something about telling me that the moon’s pull that causes the sea levels to change that takes the magic out of writing. And it truly is a magical experience. My routine is: I never realize that [...]

It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but really it’s more of a real life comedy. Here I am in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania attending a intense week of writer’s bootcamp. That would be fine if it wasn’t for the fact that I am in the middle of snow and ice and freezing temperatures. Thankfully [...]

(another writing assignment – this time based on my reading of Stephen King’s book “On Writing” in which, on pages 34-35 he says: “…I’m glad. I am, when you stop to think of it, a member of a fairly select group: the final handful of American novelists who learned to read and write before they [...]

[From my "writer's journal" for grad school - Tabz] I’m not a fan of rules. I’ve found that to be true when I read how to books. My back goes up when they tell me “you must”. I’m not entirely sure why this is true. Maybe it’s a rebellious nature, curled out of nothing. I [...]

[As many of you know I'm going to start grad school in January, one of the suggestions that my writing book I'm reading is to practice free flow writing... this idea struck me so we're going with it. It's kind of autobiographical fiction... Hope you enjoy!- Tabz] My dad could always make me feel beautiful. [...]