As MFA classmates, we had the fun and honor of learning how to write short forms with a master of both the prose poem and flash fiction: the speculative writer Bruce Holland Rogers. Bruce is famous for coming up with…
We’ve all struggled, at one point or another, to explain in conversation what, exactly, our stories are about. We hem and haw. “Well, you see…” And one of the reasons that we get in such a muddle is because sometimes…
Min Jin Lee is the author of two novels exploring the impacts of Korean diaspora. Her first novel, Free Food For Millionaires, was an international bestseller, and her second novel, Pachinko, was a finalist for the National Book Award. She…
Whether you’re just dipping a toe into the waters of your story (fiction or memoir) or you’re stuck rowing around in circles, there are seven basic steps for integrating character development, plot, and structure that will enable you to navigate…
Or: You Never Know When Research Will Prove Useful 1. Not all Navel-Gazing Is Bad A few weeks ago, I published a review of the electronic duo Matmos’s new album, Plastic Anniversary. At the risk of repeating myself, Plastic Anniversary—which…
“To write one’s life is to live it twice.” So says my first memoir teacher, Patricia Hampl. Certainly, writing about your life has all kinds of benefits, from better understanding the past to capturing the essence of your memories in…
We live in an age where writing is genre-fluid. Some of us have learned, some of us have adapted, and some of us have always been there. Wherever you are in the spectrum right now, it is a wonderful time…
What is a lexicon? A wordbook. The vocabulary proper to some department of knowledge or sphere of activity. The vocabulary or word-stock of a region, particular speaker, etc. A list of words or names. Why have a lexicon? “The writers…
Writing character—whether a fabricated one in fiction, a remembered one in memoir, or an imagined historical figure in a poem—can be daunting. Often, we focus too much on how the character looks. We write them as if we were…
A powerful story ending is both inevitable and surprising. Most fiction writers are familiar with this bit of wisdom. But how to pull it off—that sense of an ending that the reader never quite saw coming, even as it seems…
Robert Frost said that “poetry is what gets lost in translation,” meaning that whatever poetry is can’t be carried from one language to another. But that’s obviously false, since we have so many examples of great translations. The process of…
When we experience illness or trauma we hold it in our bodies. Sometimes events happened pre-consciousness, when were very young. Sometimes they happen as we age. No matter how young or old, our bodies are our repositories and these events…
Summer is just around the corner, which means it’s almost time for Scribes! Since 1998, Scribes Writing Camps have been a hub for young writers in the Seattle area, offering an opportunity to find their community, learn from accomplished writers,…