How to Write an Ekphrastic Poem
Ekphrasis is a literary device in which a work of art, usually visual, inspires a piece of poetry or prose. Ekphrastic poetry, then, describes a poem that finds inspiration in…
Read MoreWrite into the Week: August 17, 2025
“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” –Muriel Rukeyser Dear Writer, I hope you’re having a good start to your week. In this newsletter: A writing prompt to…
Read MoreHow to Write a Sonnet Poem
The sonnet is a poetry form that poets have wielded for centuries—from Petrarch and Shakespeare to Marilyn Nelson and Terrance Hayes. These 14-line poems use restrictions of length and rhythm…
Read MoreWrite into the Week: August 3, 2025
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” ― Albert Einstein Dear Writer, I hope you’re having a good start to your week. In this newsletter: A…
Read MoreHow to Become a Writer
Becoming a writer is actually quite easy. Contrary to the stereotype that writers are divinely-gifted recluses or quirky Beatniks, the truth is, anyone who writes is a writer. Yes, including…
Read MoreWhat Else? – How Research Makes Meaning
Since all the essays in my new collection, Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless, incorporate facts I learned from asking experts, reading scholarly works, or rooting around in…
Read MoreWrite into the Week: July 20, 2025
“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” –James Michener Dear Writer, I hope you’re having a good start to your…
Read MoreWrite into the Week: July 13, 2025
“Art lies in the moment of encounter: we meet ourselves and we meet our self-expression. We become original because we become something specific, an origin from which work flows.” –Julia…
Read MoreTruth in Possibility: Writing Speculative Nonfiction
Speculative nonfiction is an emerging genre of literature that empowers writers to incorporate imagination, wondering, and non-shared realities into works of creative nonfiction. By writing into the realm of possibility,…
Read MoreWrite into the Week: July 06, 2025
“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some…
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