A retreat is not a rejection of ordinary life, but it is a turning away from the day to day in order to turn toward a different kind of awareness, one in which attention is given to the retreat's intention.

Have you been writing? Have you been putting words on paper or digital pages lately?

Writers are happiest when they’ve written. Notice I didn’t say "when they're writing." That’s because writers can feel a sense of anxiety, daunt, or trepidation as they sit down to write. 

In the spirit of Halloween, and the social custom of dressing up in costumes to go out trick-or-treating, I tried a new exercise in a writing group this week. It turned out to be fun, funny and also eye opening.

Are you friendly toward your writing? or do you give it, and yourself, a hard time?

It’s always better to see your writing as a friend rather than a foe, but it’s surprising how often writers can slip into a combative or victimized stance toward their work, as if the project is a looming tyrant we feel compelled to rebel against.

I already wrote about how characters change in stories (you can find that article here). Today I want to share a bit about the types of characters who don't change (or don't change much).

I love my work as a story coach, but what I do in that role isn't always easy to explain. Today I'm going to try. And I'm also going to let a couple of videos speak for me.

We’ve been taught that selfishness is a bad thing, but without it creativity couldn’t survive.

How many of us have had to fight for time, space, or necessary resources to make creative work possible? If you’ve had a lot of female social conditioning you’ve had to fight extra hard, but all of us are brainwashed to believe selfishness is a bad trait, one to be avoided rather than embraced.

I know you didn’t start writing to become famous, but my guess is you’re hoping for some kind of recognition for your finished creative work. Writing, by nature, implies communication. Written words are meant to be read. The stories we create are a type of broadcast, and the circuit isn’t complete until the broadcast is received.


There’s been a lot of buzz about artificial intelligence lately, specifically ChatGPT. I’ve been dipping into some articles and conversations with a sense of wonder and curiosity rather than alarm, concern, or resistance, though I admit I feel those things too.

Readers are fascinated by the apparently mysterious process of coming up with story ideas. “Where do you get your ideas?” is one of the most common questions readers ask of writers. In fact, Harlan Ellison was asked it so many times he decided to come up with a specific answer: Schenectady.



Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit down about my writing. Maybe it's just the January blues, or maybe it’s the weight of all those unfulfilled writing dreams I’ve been carrying around for so long. 

I know I’m not alone in sinking into this kind of creative depression from time to time. The challenge is getting out of it.