Craft and Creativity
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On Writing What’s Already Been Written
I often encounter a concern among writers that they have nothing new to contribute to literature. Why write if what I have to say has already been written? The written word is, what, 4,000 years old? We know from our translations of cuneiform tablets that people have been grappling with the same problems of society we…
What I’ve Learned from 19th Century Novels
Chances are, you were forced to read 19th century novels in high school—and, chances are, you might have hated reading them. Well, I did anyway. No one really explained to me the importance of reading Charles Dickens, so reading Charles Dickens was rather aggravating. My Junior year, I started to appreciate Victorian literature when I…
The World as Writing Prompt: 9 Ways to Invent Inspiration
Look around you, whether just glancing across your kitchen table or taking in the building thunderheads and blossoming lilac right outside your window. The world is our writing prompt, and not just the world supposedly external to us: the worlds of our memories, insights, and connections can spark new poems, stories, essays, and more as…