Nonfiction Editor, Zachary Benavidez, blogs about why he keeps a journal. This summer I started doing something I haven't done since college: I started journaling again. In grad school, our writing professors encouraged us to keep notebooks in our pockets…
Issue 51 contributor Meghan Dombrink-Green blogs about the importance of a good writing environment. There’s this great—and somewhat bizarre—feeling I get when I get into my writing. I’ll be sitting at my computer, slogging my way through what needs to…
Issue 51 contributor Bill Brown writes about staying amazed with the world. Keep the child inside, honor words that emerge from silence, never stop being amazed at the natural world. With so much cynicism in the world today, one thing…
Volunteer Holly muses over changes in scenery. Years ago, I found myself sitting on the edge of a cliff looking out over the Pacific Ocean for the first time. The view stretched on, vast and limitless. Humbled by the experience,…
Issue 51 contributor Linda Morefield blogs about those pesky little twirls. My daughter’s boyfriend, a policy analyst, asked me to explain commas to him. Someone senior to him at work had been critical of his use of those pesky little…
Guest blogger Carrie Callaghan writes about choosing what to read. The Library of Congress holds over 34.5 million books and printed materials nestled along some 838 miles of shelving – that’s just a little less than a road trip from…
Guest blogger Natasha Guadalupe writes about the importance of first sentences and how to craft them. The thin black line at the top of your computer screen silently blinks, nudging you to write, a sentence, a word, something—anything! That cursor,…
Julie Wakeman-Linn, Editor in Chief on leave, announces the publication of her novel. Some good news: My novel, Chasing the Leopard Finding the Lion, has been published by Mkuki Na Nyota, a award-winning Tanzanian publisher. They created a beautiful book.…
Volunteer Nathan analyzes dialogue in Don DeLillo’s Underworld. I recently attended a dialogue-focused writing workshop at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The workshop’s suggestions and commentary reiterated the fundamentals that can be found in most conventional classes and instructional…
Volunteer Andrea attends the last night of Jeff Shaara’s Blaze of Glory book tour. I have a soft spot for the U.S. Civil War, and I am fascinated by the process of bringing historical fiction to life. Months ago, I…