The Writer's Workout

Twenty-Five Yards to Life by Deidra Whitt Lovegren First Place That’s my name and my number, but it’s not me. With a flick of my thumb, I pop open a black umbrella and square up behind a rusty chain-link fence. Fresh cut grass takes me back to the start of my own NFL career—before the chronic pain, relentless lawsuits, and crazy carousel of ex-wives ruined my life.  Did it always rain like hell during training camp? The players don’t seem to notice the wet jerseys stick

Teacher's Pet by Thomas Second Place Everybody hated Colin O’Dowd.  He was a snake, a stool pigeon, a rat.   We didn’t have much to amuse ourselves at Bede Middle, but one thing we did like was making soggy moggys– wetting toilet paper and throwing it at the ceiling.  Stevie Allen had it down to a fine art. He said some of his pieces had been on the ceiling since the first term. I liked to imagine that in 3000 years, some archaeologists excavating our school would loo

Roadkill by Steven O'Hara Third Place In a town, not far enough inland to be considered the sticks, but not close enough to any city or sister settlement to gain any overflowing economy, is a white steepled church, where all the townsfolk, no matter their religious affiliation, or if they’ve any religion at all, seem to gather; a redbricked school that houses all students no matter their age, as there is no other school in this town—nor close to it—but the children don’t se

It's already here! While there have been quite a few changes from our original '26 lineup, I'm currently almost done uploading the final videos so we're pretty sure this list is as complete as we can make it. That is... assuming we don't have a sudden influx of new volunteers this weekend, eager to share their advice and experience. You know my inbox is always open. On that note... You can sign up to share your awesomeness in 2027 here . Starting MONDAY, March 23 , we'll hav

Hello! S.E. Reed here! I'm an Indie Author who has been on the hunt for the last year to meet new and interesting people in the writing world. Along the way I've had the chance to interview some great writers, like today's guest, Nancy Christie. Nancy has hit some major milestones in the writing world. Like reaching double digits with the number of published books she has out there. And there is not slowing her down! She has more lovely novels in the works and releasing soon.

For this Back to Basics mini-course, we’re trying to embrace revisions— as a process . Let’s look at the basics. Getting a first draft of anything done, be it an essay, a novel, or anything in between, is grueling. Something special happens when you complete a draft: it gives you an almost indescribable feeling of joy . Sometimes we’re so proud of what we made that it can be hard to find any fault with it. But even if you think your first draft is perfect, it can never hurt t

As writers, we all aspire to have people read the words we have so carefully crafted, don’t we? Well, I suppose there are some who write and hide their work in desktop folders or in repurposed shoeboxes buried deep within their closets, never meant for the public eye. But, hey, if you’re perusing this site—which means you have at least a marginal interest in improving your craft—you likely don’t fall into that second category. We might choose to write for a myriad of reasons

Learn about target audiences for the fantasy genre.