Writing Prompt: Monsters in America
This lovely cryptozoological map by artist Mark Adams for HogIsland Press delightfully illustrates regionally-famous monsters in America. Some of these monsters are well documented in […]
Prompts & Writing Games
Writing Prompt: The Medium is the Message
Jennifer Egan’s near-future science fiction story “Black Box”, written in the form of “mental dispatches” from a spy living in the Mediterranean, was originally published in […]
Make Your Own Medicine 7 comments
This grabbed me by the heart: Children from transplant wards Fox, Robin and Eagle at @GreatOrmondSt have invented their own imaginary medicines. pic.twitter.com/dqrJkNuG7W — Foundling […]
Where to find powerful writing material
When I am run down, I tend to lie in bed at night reliving every horrible or upsetting moment I’ve experienced in my whole life. […]
Sometimes The World Surprises You In A Good Way
On June 26, 2015, gay couples and lesbian couples at long last won the legal right to marry in the United States. (You can read […]
Start With The Landscape
Let’s look at how a landscape can provide a starting point for a story or poem. Think about a landscape you know well. Note that I said “landscape”, […]
Juan Felipe Herrera on writing interlingual stories
Juan Felipe Herrera, who was just named the first Mexican-American U.S. poet laureate, shares his technique for writing interlingual stories: Your picture books are bilingual in […]
Start With A Place Name
The Okanagan Valley where I grew up is blessed with an array of colorful place names, including names derived from the Salish language of the original […]
Writing Empathy
Stories are powerful tools for creating empathy. Let’s look at the idea of “writing empathy” as an inroad into story ideas. Think about a time […]
