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Category Archives: 2024

Philip Kenney on the Experience of Writing His Novel The Mercy Dialogues

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on December 4, 2024 by Philip KenneyDecember 5, 2024

Writing It Real contributor Philip Kenney has a new novel out, The Mercy Dialogues, and this month I “talked” via email with him about the premise of the novel, his reason for writing it, and what that experience was like. Writing a novel is certainly different than writing haiku, the form Philip Kenney mastered in … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing + Membership, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership, Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership, Phone Consult: 3750 Words or Six Poems + Membership, The 3 E’s: Epistolary, Ekphrastic and Epideictic + Membership, Four Half-Hour Consults + Membership or New! Using the Flash Series Technique to Write Memoir.

Continue reading →
Posted in 2024, From Our Contributors, Interviews, WIR2014

Interview with Author Susan Luzader on Her Blog and Three-Book Series

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on November 7, 2024 by Sheila BenderNovember 7, 2024

Author Susan Luzader has had an inspiring book publishing journey, and this month our Writing It Real article explores it with her. Visit her website Wine and Cereal: An Irreverent Look at Sixty-ish and Single to sign up for her … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024 | Tagged memoir, personal essay, Publishing, women's voices | Leave a reply

WIR 2024 Anthology: On Advice That I Received and How It Turned Out

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on October 10, 2024 by Sheila BenderOctober 10, 2024

We are excited to announce the digital publication of Writing It Real members’ newest anthology! The essays and poems in it tackle the subject of listening to or refusing to listen to advice. We hope you enjoy reading the entries in the book, which is available below for download in a choice of formats as … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing + Membership, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership, Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership, Phone Consult: 3750 Words or Six Poems + Membership, The 3 E’s: Epistolary, Ekphrastic and Epideictic + Membership, Four Half-Hour Consults + Membership or New! Using the Flash Series Technique to Write Memoir.

Continue reading →
Posted in 2024, WIR2014 | Tagged anthologies of Writing it Real members work, literary journals

Hey, Monkey Mind

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on September 5, 2024 by Sheila BenderSeptember 5, 2024

There are so many times that our minds are cluttered with responsibilities and obligations and worries. These are the times that we are upset with ourselves for not writing and instead, we dig deeper into what is keeping us from … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024 | Tagged on writing, overcoming writer's block, personal essay, Trusting Images | 11 Replies

On Writing Bylines and Blessings, Overcoming Obstacles, Striving for Excellence and Redefining Success

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on August 1, 2024 by Judy GruenAugust 6, 2024

Writing It Real Contributor Judy Gruen has a second memoir out. I had the lucky experience of interviewing her about how she came to write her memoir, Writing Bylines and Blessings, Overcoming Obstacles, Striving for Excellence and Redefining Success, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024, From Our Contributors, Interviews, Literary Gallery | Tagged memoir, on writing, writing memoir | 1 Reply

Dialogue to Diffuse the Power of Critical Voices, For my students who say they can’t write dialog

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on May 30, 2024 by Sheila BenderMay 30, 2024

Years ago, I was flying Southwest Airlines from Seattle to Tucson where I was going to teach a weekend writing class. Southwest Airlines gave boarding passes at the gate, first come, first serve, and then loaded their planes in boarding groups without assigning particular seats to passengers. Therefore, people began lining up for the passes … Continue reading →

To access this post, you must purchase Online Personal Essay Writing Workshop + Membership, Development and Line Editing + Membership, Yesim Cimcoz Where Story Begins + Membership, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 11:00AM, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – How Editing Helps You Find Your Way + Membership 2:00PM, Poetry Writing Workshop + Membership, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 2:00PM, In-Class Writing and Responses – Your Writing Will Surprise You! + Membership 11:00 AM, Summer Reading Summer Writing Plus Membership, Write More Healthy Starts Plus Membership, You: Writing in the 2nd Person Online Workshop Plus Membership, Keep Goin’ On Your Writing over the Holidays Plus Membership, Writing for Young Readers Plus Membership, Introduction to Scrivener — Plus Membership, Writing Healthy Starts + Membership, Eight Half-Hour Consults + Membership, Befriending the Giant + Membership, Write! Write! Write! Writing Exercises for Writing Prose from Personal Experience + Membership, Phone Consult: 3750 Words or Six Poems + Membership, The 3 E’s: Epistolary, Ekphrastic and Epideictic + Membership, Four Half-Hour Consults + Membership or New! Using the Flash Series Technique to Write Memoir.

Continue reading →
Posted in 2024, Instructional Exercises, Sheila Bender On Writing, The Working Writer, WIR2014 | Tagged overcoming writer's block, writing dialgue, writing exercises

Our Writing Minds Depend on This

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on May 2, 2024 by Sheila BenderMay 2, 2024

Originally Posted on December 11, 2013 by Sheila Bender   Writing depends on our willingness to observe closely and our ability to allow ourselves to engage emotionally with what we are observing. So often, though, we don’t remember to take time to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024, Sheila Bender On Writing, Writing Makes a Difference | Tagged journaling, on writing, overcoming writer's block | 6 Replies

Editing a Poetry Anthology: An Introduction

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on April 4, 2024 by David D. HorowitzApril 4, 2024

Poet and cat lover, David D. Horowitz hatched the idea of creating an anthology of cat poems he would call Purr and Yowl: An Anthology of Poetry About Cats. Putting together any book of poems, whether one of one’s own … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024, From Our Contributors, The Working Writer | Tagged on publishing, Publishing | 1 Reply

An Interview with Ruth Linnea Whitney on Writing Her Novel Mimosa Road & Tips for Others Who Want to Write Novels

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on March 7, 2024 by Ruth Linnea WhitneyMarch 7, 2024

Ruth Linnea Whitney is a novelist who has lived in Port Townsend, WA, on the Olympic Peninsula for decades. She is also a woman who has traveled extensively to third world countries with her doctor husband, who many times over … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024, From Our Contributors, Interviews, The Working Writer | Tagged writing fiction based on truth, writing novels | Leave a reply

Memoirist Tarn Wilson Interviews Novelist Mike Karpa, Author of the Novel The Wealthy Whites of Williamsburg, on His Writing Process

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on February 1, 2024 by Tarn WilsonFebruary 1, 2024

Tarn Wilson tells us: When I was in my twenties, I joined a writing group of more experienced writers, which, for fifteen years, felt like having my own creative writing graduate program. Mike Karpa was a founding member of that … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024, From Our Contributors, Literary Gallery, The Working Writer | Tagged Writing Craft Tools, Writing Fiction, Writing Scenes | Leave a reply

The Fog: Prologue to Michael Karpa’s Novel The Wealthy Whites of Williamsburg

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on February 1, 2024 by Michael KarpaFebruary 1, 2024

The Fog Casey wandered the Port Authority bus terminal, newly disembarked off her bus from Memphis and feeling like midtown Manhattan had punched her in the face. A guy approached. The man looked like a farmworker who’d wandered in straight … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024, From Our Contributors, Literary Gallery | Leave a reply

Poet Susan Rich on The Cover Art Conundrum: What’s Best for Your Book?

Sheila Bender's Writing It Real Posted on January 4, 2024 by Susan RichJanuary 4, 2024

On a summertime road trip between Newport, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, I started writing a book with my friend. As we sped up I-5 I sang to the highway exit signs: “The book you hold in your hands is a … Continue reading →

Posted in 2024, From Our Contributors, The Working Writer | Tagged writing advice | Leave a reply

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