So here’s what you do: take your memories and present them to the reader. Take your passions. You take as much guilt and as little total depravity as you can safely mix in. You read. You steal. You want desperately to be a writer. You volunteer to nail your soft parts to a tree. You […]

©Jessica Morrell There is no mystery to turning pro. It’s a decision brought about by an act of will. We make up our minds to view ourselves as pros, and we do it, simple as that. ~ Stephen Pressfield File this column under my annual pep talk. Something you might hear from a hard ass […]

Line by Line: How to Rewrite, Rework & Reword March 24, 9-5 Tabor Space, 5441 S.E. Belmont, Portland, OR Cost: $75 Every good writer is also an editor. The tough thing about self-editing is learning what to keep, what to lose, and what to leave well enough alone. For some this can be difficult because […]

“And yet, words are the passkeys to our souls. Without them, we can’t really share the enormity of our lives.” ~ Diane Ackerman

The best advice on writing I’ve ever received is to take it seriously, because to do it well is all-consuming. David Guterson

Bad Advice? Good Advice? ©Jessica P. Morrell “You write to be read. That is the bottom line.” ~ Jane Yolen While teaching and working with writers I’ve heard them parrot all sorts of advice by well-known authors, experts, and cranks. And I’ve concluded that there sure is a lot of lousy advice aimed at writers. […]

But It Really Happened Jessica P. Morrell© “With any kind of fiction, there are basically two ways to incorporate your real-life experiences. Either you write a story based on something that happened to you, or you write a largely imagined story, with snippets from your life woven into the fabric of the story.” Robin Hemley […]

Registration for Summer in Words  (June 15-17) will open in March, but you can already reserve your rooms (at a discounted rate) at the Hallmark Inn & Resort.

   Theme Jessica P. Morrell €  To write a plot  or story,   you have to be clear on what issues you want to present and then think of the events that will present those issues in action…I had to find that which was essential to the issue and then build an event around it. Ayn […]

It’s official–Chelsea Cain is going to our Keynote Speaker at Summer in Words 2012 . Dates are June 15-17 Cannon Beach, Oregon Stay tuned for more updates.