“Intention is the writer’s soul.” William Zinsser Like many people there are parts I love about my life and parts I’m not so crazy about. The part I love is early mornings at my computer with the sky changing in the east, the click of the keyboard, the words that emerge unplanned. The quiet that […]

Jessica Page Morrell© Associate with all the smart, funny, talented, creative people you can, learn to write beautifully, but don’t stay locked in your room to do it: go out and try new things, meet new people, have a wonderful, rich, compelling, and interesting life — and then tell me about it in the most […]

©Jessica P. Morrell “Tears are words that need to be written.” – Paul Coehlo           Church scholars are uncertain about the identity of Saint Valentine. The confusion exists because there are several  Valentines who are linked to February 14. It’s commonly accepted that is that he was the bishop of Terni; he was beheaded in […]

©Jessica Page Morrell       Sometimes you just have to trust the thing you claim to trust – and for me that is the shaping spirit of creativity. ~ Jeanette Winterson      In long-ago times, as seems fitting, March was the beginning of the year and interestingly marked the resumption of war. In about 700 BC […]

Jessica P. Morrell © Everyone needs a Plan B. Criminals, if they don’t want to get caught, create a Plan B; movie directors formulate a Plan B when they shoot various versions of the same scene or alternate movie endings; and writers need a plan B so that they’re always facing forward, always moving ahead. […]

Time spent focusing on art is a privilege and a gift. The writing doesn’t make me happy, but it makes me happier, and it makes everything else easier to take. Stephen Elliot, from an essay first published in Tin House             If you’re a writer you know that writing can be the best fun you’ll […]

©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 […]

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. […]

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.  ~William Wordsworth I started teaching writers in 1991 and in these past years I’ve worked with and taught enough writers to fill a small town. Now, if all these writers would move together into this town (I imagine it in the foothills of an impossibly majestic […]

The Story in All     Examine human nature and you’ll find a primitive creature, afraid of the night, spooked by unexplained noises, and troubled by the mysteries of nature and death and heartbreak. To be human is to need answers and solace. And ever since there was a fire and a circle gathered round […]