Allison K. Williams's Blog, page 8

As a Writer I Should Be Committed: How Community Saved Me

By Char Wilkins

I suck at commitment, but love learning, especially how-to presentations. Left to myself, I slide into writer’s block, followed by the no-one-wants-to-read-this-crap syndrome, which catapults into I-should-stick-with-things-I-know-how-to-do-like-the-laundry. We often think commitment is just a matter of more willpower, but willpower is finite (which dieters learn very quickly.)

I share this problem with many writers. Committing long term to our writing. Lack of money, or...

The 12 Stages of the Essayist’s Journey

By Jason R. James

Most fiction writers know the 12 stages of The Hero’s Journey, but what happens if your “hero” is simply trying to write an essay? When the quest feels more like a question, and the narrative tells the story of deeper thoughts, this writer is on a new kind of adventure. And so, I give you…

The 12 Stages of the Essayist’s Journey.

1. The Ordinary World
The essay begins percolating long before pen ever touches paper. It starts in those halcyon days untroubled by questi...

The Alchemy of Writing

By Cindy Eastman

So, I gave this prompt to a couple of my writing groups recently—Does your writing change you? How?

I was wondering myself if it was true: has my own writing changed me?

Having come to this vocation late in life, I only allowed myself to say “I’m a writer” once my first book was published over ten years ago. But after thirty-plus years of facilitating writing groups and workshops and announcing that “writing is simply a process by which we make meaning of our lived e...

Layers of Harm and Healing: A Bestiary in Essays

Amie Souza Reilly’s Human/Animal: A Bestiary in Essays follows the author’s experience living beside two brothers who stalked and harassed her and her family because they wanted Reilly’s home. Reilly expands the narrative from internal to external in several ways, including reflections on gendered violence, horror films, feminism, and the etymology of animal names. In the interview below, Maddie Norris talks with Reilly about the process of writing a multi-layered work.

Maddie Norris: The...

I’m on Literary Agent #3. Ask Me Anything.

By Allison K Williams

Brevity‘s Editor-in-Chief considers his options for a new literary agent

“Eeeeee! Eeeeee! Eeeeee!” were my measured and intelligent words upon scheduling The Call. For the first time, an agent wanted to work with ME?

I’d sent 63 queries, about half rejections, a couple of manuscript requests, and a bunch of no-response-means-no’s. This agent was a referral—I’d read my former intern’s book, the intern got a deal, this was the intern’s agent. (Always be nice to your ...

Butterflies, Clouds, and Joan Baez: How Mindfulness Enhances My Writing Life

By Dinty W. Moore

Three brief, mindful reminders have significantly influenced my writing over the years, and along the way, have greatly enhanced my writing life. I’d like to share them.

The first,

If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in every sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a s...

The Power of Community in Writing (and Where I Found Mine!)

By Laurianna Murray

It’s easy to think about writing as a solitary task. We write alone. In our office, on the bed, at the kitchen table. Even in a coffee shop surrounded by people, we are alone, in our heads. Alone with our thoughts and the words as they flow (or don’t!)

But what if we reframed that idea? What if we orient to writing in a community?

I had never taken any classes or programs to learn the skill of writing. Oh sure, I’ve been writing since I was a kid with a Trapper Ke...

When Happiness Returned, I Thought I Had Lost My Muse

By Karen Egee

When my mother died, grief cracked my father open like a geode. Something about his state of vulnerability along with his emotional connection, his continual reaching out, clawing back from grief, cracked my writing open as well.

Every day back then, something happened, some mix of tender and sad that moved me to write. I plucked from a seemingly endless stream of poignant passing moments, writing essay after essay, publishing a few.

Formerly busy with his own pursuits ...

My Best Tortoise-Hustle Pace: On Writing and Running

By Christine Wiese

I’m only three miles into the Asheville half marathon when the male front runners round the first turnaround point and come back past us. The gazelles, as I think of them, run with beautiful form, loping towards the next turn with long, graceful strides. Shortly behind them is the leading woman. I’m at the back of the pack with the other tortoises when she passes and a big cheer goes up among all the women. A female voice yells, “Yeah! Represent!” We’re cheering for a st...

The Art and Craft of Body Writing

A Q & A with Nina B. Lichtenstein

By Jennifer Lang

In her new memoir, Body: My Life in Parts, Nina B. Lichtenstein uses her body as an entrée into the story. She structures her chapters around body parts—eyes, teeth, skin, knees, back, hair, hips, heart—while digging deep into her past, her present, her foibles and quirks. Jennifer Lang spoke to Nina about her memoir’s structure and craft.

Jennifer Lang: Body: My Life in Parts contains a treasure trove of stories about your childhood...