With a plethora of writing books I sat on the floor, for hours, in the writing section of Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon, investigating ALL the writing books they had on their shelves. Happily I hunted.  At that time I left with two key books (*listed below).   In other cases, a writing friend has suggested a “must have” book, or even gifted me a pertinent writing book.  In the books that follow I found the answers to writing questions or problems I was encountering in writing my…

Mid-way through my current novel’s rewrite I came across an article in the November/December 2011 issue of Poets and Writers “A Writer’s Daily Habit” by Ellen Sussman, the excellent advice I gleaned: break writing down into 45 minute blocks with 15 minute breaks in between.  She calls this the “Unit System.” I tried it.  It worked.  It revolutionized my writing process.  What I found was that I could rewrite ten pages in a day, whereas before I would get through, on average, four. Why is…

As writers a moment arrives when we need to call upon something larger than ourselves, to intervene, to assist in our creative endeavor.  Maybe the novel idea, characters, scenes have been visiting you for years but you just can’t seem to start writing, or you sit in front of your blank screen waiting for the words to burst forth, but nothing.  Or, life required you to take leave of your half- written manuscript, and now, months or years have passed but the work still begs to be completed,…