From the newsletter: Killing the darlings!

“In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” -William Faulkner Dear Writers, Kill the Darlings. It’s one of the first and most important things we learn to do as writers. We all know it is essential. And sometimes, not as simple as it sounds. Killing your darlings means: Getting rid of individual lines that attract…

Read more »

From the newsletter: Using memories

July 4, 2016 Memory is a passion no less powerful or pervasive than love. What does it mean to remember? It is to live more than one world, to prevent the past from fading and to call upon the future to illuminate it. It is to revive fragments of existence, to rescue lost beings, to…

Read more »

So my cousin just won The Voice! This is what I learned watching!

If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. -Vincent Van Gogh Dear Writers, I have already written at least once about watching my cousin, Alisan Porter, compete on The Voice. I have to admit: I LOVE hearing her sing. Well tonight,…

Read more »

Think BIG!

I got such nice responses from today’s newsletter, I’m posting it here! Thank you!!!! Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Dear Writers, This weekend, Sara Pennypacker talked about her new novel, Pax,…

Read more »

From the Newsletter: Writing Resolutions

Dear Writers, It’s that time of year! This week, many of us will make New Year’s Resolutions! (I LOVE LOVE LOVE setting goals. I evaluate them at least every 3-6 months.) Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.   -Oprah Winfrey Let our New Year’s resolution be this: we will be there for…

Read more »

From the newsletter: Bringing the force to your writing

“Fear is the path to the dark side.” -Yoda “Don’t call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease.” -C3PO Dear Writers, I saw the new Star Wars movie this week. And I LOVED it. And you will, too, because it is a GREAT STORY. With GREAT CHARACTERS. They want things that are important. And because of…

Read more »

Good morning to all

It’s hard not to be affected by all the bad news in the world. The last few days, I’ve found it hard to sleep and concentrate. Terrorism. Guns. Political rhetoric. The news is filled with sad stories. There is less daylight. Almost everyone I know has a cold. A few things have helped. My class,…

Read more »

Timely and timeless

  “I learned a long time ago that life introduces young people to situations they are in no way prepared for, even good girls, lucky girls who want for nothing. Sometimes, when you least expect it, you become the girl in the woods. You lose your name because another one is forced on you. You…

Read more »

Why THIS retreat?

Tomorrow is registration day for the Writing Novels for Young People Retreat at Vermont College of Fine Arts. (insert: squeal!!!!) This weekend is one of my favorites of the year. Why? This retreat, unlike many retreats, focuses solely on CRAFT. Although we invite an editor, there is no talk of markets or trends or deals. In other words:…

Read more »

From the newsletter: Tennis and Writing

“You gotta be willing to fail… if you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.” Steve Jobs  “There is no such thing as failure — failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.” –Oprah Winfrey Dear Writers, Did you enjoy the US Open? I r did (although I was really sad that Serena and…

Read more »