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Imagine you're writing a story. It could be a short story; it could be a novel; it could be a short script that may become a feature length script. But in the process of bringing this story to life, a new scene needs to be added. The beauty of utilizing story structure is that we, as writers, can know when a scene is needed. Do we need to amp up the emotional beats? Reveal character? Push the story forward in a manner that both amps up the emotional beats and reveals characte

The glorious task of line editing. The arduous task of line editing. The closest we writers get to a fearless moral inventory of our work is when we go line by line, sentence by sentence, to determine if the words amount to the meaning we wish to impart with this story. I am currently in the line edit stage and while I still find the fun in it, the process can be harrowing. Line editing forces us to reckon with the story that currently exists on the page and ask ourselves if

My great grandmother had a German Shepherd by the name of Śmigły-Rydz. The dog was shipped from Germany to Manatí, Puerto Rico, already trained and ready to be a helper in her house. The dog was named after a prominent Polish politician and army leader, who was also a painter and poet. When my mother told me this story, I found it to be a curious tidbit of familial folklore. Nothing more. But as I ruminated on the story, a German Shepherd arriving to a Caribbean town, a dog t

Some may say I have writer's block. Lately, I don't feel as inspired as I usually do. I spend more time reading than doing any other writing related activity. I attempt an outline and find myself intrigued by multiple directions a story could take. Perhaps she discovers her husband is having an affair. Perhaps she discovers her husband is having an affair with a python hunter. Perhaps her husband's python hunting paramour is actually someone trying to get close to the main ch

A writer's life can be a solitary one. Most, if not all, of our creative process is done alone. Our minds become a companion, a steadfast ally, or even, a more visceral adversary. With enough solitude, a writer becomes their own worst enemy. The inner critic starts bench pressing 250 and never misses leg day, dashing hopes and ideas with the quickness. So do we combat this foe made even more formidable with isolation? We need community. By community, I mean a group of writers

This week, I've been considering the origins of ideas. Where do story ideas come from? Do they emerge organically while buttering toast or doing some other rote action? Or do they require effort? A mining of earth, perhaps. Every writer is different. I know, I know. If I were some guru that knew how to do marketing very well and could easily wield hashtags and capcut in the same way that I approach metaphors and poetic forms, perhaps I'd be in a shifted position. Not theorizi

In this world, the more we do, the more we work, the more money we siphon into our bank account, the more accomplished we can feel. Writing for three hours straight. Working the day job, then writing. Waking up early, before the sunrise, just to write, then putting in a whole day of childcare or desk work or whatever work you need to get done--the more we do, the more we succeed. At least, that's the definition of success in this country. But I would posit that there are some

If you're a writer, you must be on a glorious mind vacation if you've never heard of AI. AI is everywhere. If it's not in the oddly specific, too-perfect, ranging into the uncanny valley advertisements, then it's in the all-hands office meetings in which stakeholders discuss a company's trajectory. It's in cautionary tales of employment seeking, jobs that seem too good to be true and, when the recruiter asks a candidate to complete an AI screening interview, one realizes it i

Imagine your favorite story (mine is a forever toss up between Jurassic Park-- book or movie-- Silence of the Lambs, The Empire Strikes Back, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, or The Catcher in the Rye ). To be honest, I could keep going, but I digress. Take one of your favorite stories, we'll use The Empire Strikes Back for this example. Looking at the story, it is firmly told from Luke Skywalker's point of view. Sure, there are moments where we drift into Princess Leia

There will be days when no words emerge. Writing is a walk, a pilgrimage through the crevices of existence (and learning where your own soul dovetails with them). The walk lasts your entire life, if you choose to accept the journey. So, therein lies that truth: there will be days when no words emerge. When all you have left to show at the end of the day is a blank page. This truth is one that holds nuance. If you battle against that truth, it can be frustrating. If you person