Once a week I head out on a fishing expedition for words. I’m looking for those words, conversations, and ideas that will inspire me creatively. I’m armed with my fishing gear: an imaginary trusty fishing rod, a tablet, and at least two pens. I pick a fishing spot where I’ve been told the words are […]

Own the Emotion, Give It Away Some years ago, I volunteered as a studio monitor during a regional ballet association festival. I watched nervously as the teacher pushed and corrected the young dancers, but I was happy to see how he also encouraged and praised. Toward the end of the session, he told the dancers […]

Many years ago, when I was teaching English and creative writing to high school students, I attended a creative workshop for teachers “up East” where we learned fresh approaches to teaching writing. More importantly for me, it turned out, was the encouragement to write a story of my own. I remember sitting on a bench […]

We cannot live our lives constantly looking back, listening back, lest we be turned to pillars of longing and regret, but to live without listening at all is to live deaf to the fullness of the music.  — Frederick Buechner, The Sacred Journey   A friend encourages me to write memoir. “But I write fiction,” I tell […]

Story Circle Network, how I do love thee: Let me count the ways! I was introduced to Story Circle Network by my friend about seven years ago. She had me at “all women writing circle.” In a field that had previously been dominated by men from 1950 until the year 2000, I finally felt my […]

I have been a writing coach for over twenty years. During that time, I have spent countless hours working with students, editing and revising their work. As I often say to them, “We first take your rough draft and make sure it’s structured correctly with its beginning, middle, and end, and then we go through […]