The Tyranny of Titles

The Tyranny of Titles

Every workshop I teach leads to a discussion of The Title. 1. What is the purpose of a title? 2. Where should it come from? 3. How do you know if it’s any good? When I teach others, I can generally come up with some answers to these questions, like the...
Is It Fiction?

Is It Fiction?

It has been an intense month of writing. My last post discussed finishing the first draft of my new novel. Today, I can report that I have finished the third draft and am about to send the manuscript to a ‘trusted reader’ who will give me some more...
Encouragement for the Unpublished

Encouragement for the Unpublished

Two poetry collections and umpteen published single poems later and I still have never made it into one of the big journals. But every now and again I throw caution to the wind and send out a submission to one of those important literary magazines. Then I have trained...