Weekly Writing Challenges: Nonfiction Archive

Now is the Winter of my discontent Anyone who knows me even passingly knows how much I dislike the cold, grey days of Winter. In this hemisphere of the world, Winter is just setting in, and while the days are (mercifully) getting longer, the weather is still...

Summer Time (and the living is decidedly not easy) As summer creeps ever closer, I can't help but be jealous of kids being released out of school for a few months of freedom from responsibility and homework. As a kid, I couldn't wait to grow up, and now I realize what...

Suck it in suck it in suck it in if you're Rin Tin Tin or Anne Boleyn The hook. The gotta. The lede. The so what. Whatever you call it, it's the reason your readers keep reading. And guess what? It's probably not the same reason that you keep writing. To succeed as a...

Theme and variations I had the pleasure a couple weeks ago of hanging out with another parent while our kids were busy at a school activity together, and we got to talking about writing. First, let me confess that it's taken me a long time to feel comfortable...

Words and words and words I've been reading (and writing) a lot of poetry recently. I love poetry. I love reading it and I love writing it. I also love cannibalising poetry techniques to use in my fiction and my creative nonfiction. You've probably heard the advice...

Just Another... Frantic Friday As I write this, I'm staring down the barrel of another long weekend sitting at my desk, rather than enjoying the much needed cooler weather flowing into Seattle. It's my third straight weekend of work, and I am tired, y'all. I'm...

Do not want Well, it's not even mid-May and we've got our first "dangerous heat" warning. My garden, which I just! planted! last! week! is in mortal peril. The county is prepping the cooling centers for people living on the streets or without AC in their houses. Other...

The nick of time? Phew, what a few weeks I've had! Between birthdays and broken wrists (not mine) it's been go Go GO around here. Which, of course, means I haven't had much time for substantial writing. What I have had time for is poetry. It doesn't hurt that April...