Writer’s Burrow—What does your safe writing place within look like? How are your writer’s requirements met?

Every writer needs a writing room. What about a burrow…a hole or tunnel dug into the earth to create a space of temporary refuge….and where your thoughts and feelings can inhabit themselves freely, on paper. Dig a deep hole to bury your sorrows. Bury them, do not forget them. For, they are alive and will…

Riehl’s Aphorism on Rules of Writing–Three Foundational Rules tried in our test kitchen–& an example of revising

Janet Riehl with her book “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” (see sidebar) This aphorism is something I said at a book evening at Left Bank Books in the Central West End, St. Louis…when the conversation turned to writing. The author of the evening urged me to write it down, so I did. (One of the foundational…

Riehl’s “Relishing Writing Rejection” featured on Eliot, a literary blog…St. Louis Writers Guild

Demian Farnsworth invited me to join the chorus of rejection advice and insights on the St. Louis Writers Guild’s keynote blog Eliot, a literary blog (named, of course for T.S. Eliot, for whom St. Louis was a home town.) Head on over there to find out eight ways to put a dollop of relish on…

Nancy Connally’s Critique Case Study Day 3: New Insights Dawn

Here are some learnings that come from the conclusion of Nancy Connally’s Critiquing Case Study: For those giving feedback: 1) Critique the story, not the person. 2) Critique the story on the page that person is writing, not the story in your head that you want written. For those receiving feedback: 3) Have the intestinal…

Nancy Connally’s Critique Case Study, Day 2: How wisdom from an on-line writing village gave her perspective–5 specific tips

Nancy Connally tells how she balanced out the negative critique by learning from the wisdom of an on-line writing village…including finding out that even exceptionally gifted writers must learn how to cope with folks who don’t take to their work. —JGR ____________________________ Later that day, I checked in with a writers group I belong to…

Nancy Connally learns some important lessons on critics and critiquing: Day 1 of 3

Nancy Connally’s 3-day case study of some recent critiques and her response to them sheds light on several important issues in the process of giving and receiving feedback on our writing. Today, Day One, she tells of a negative critique she received from a person of stature and how that proved destructive in several major…

Janet Muirhead Hill Tells Writers How to Separate our Personhood from Our Work When Receiving and Using Criticism

Today, Guest Blogger Janet Muirhead Hill, author of the Miranda and Starlight series of six books and Danny’s Dragon, a story of wartime loss concludes her Riehl series on “Overcoming Rejection and the the Writing Life.” Quite inspiring, no? Janet, thank you for being one of the other Janet’s in the world and sharing your…