You can read all the writing advice in the world, but in the end, it all comes down to how YOU approach the page or the screen. To help illustrate how we’re all just a little bit different, I’m taking a standard list of questions about writing and posing it to dozens of different writers. As you scroll though their answers, I think you’ll see we’re all as individual as fingerprints or snowflakes. And if you’re a writer who’d like to participate in this questionnaire, please email me.
Reading time: About 3 minutes JF Garrard encourages authors to write because they love doing it and because they love the craft. Don’t think too much about what others have accomplished, she advises…. JF Garrard is an award-winning speculative fiction writer (The Undead Sorceress, The Blue Son, Sasaeng Waves), editor […]
Reflections on writing with JF Garrard… Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Gina Brown says that many talented writers become stymied by limiting thoughts. Read on to learn how to defeat these thoughts…. Gina Brown is a writer and founder of NovaHeart Media, an independent publishing platform. She has written two novels, The Sugar Bowl Feud (2024)
Gina Brown with reflections on writing… Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Although she never has enough time for writing, Su Chang says she always aspires to write a “child’s draft,” where she lets all the words pour out and doesn’t worry about rearranging them until later… Su Chang is a Chinese-Canadian writer. Her debut novel The
Reflections on writing with Su Chang… Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Susan Sanford Blades says she pretty much NEVER feels like writing, but deals with the challenge by being obedient to her writing schedule… Susan Sanford Blades’ debut novel, Fake It So Real, won the 2021 ReLit Award in the novel category and was a finalist
Reflections on writing with Susan Sanford Blades… Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Thanks to his earlier career as a journalist, Bretton Loney says he learned that the act of simply putting his bum in the chair was essential to writing success. Bretton Loney is a novelist and non-fiction writer who has independently published three books: The Last
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Reading time: About 1 minute Susan LeBlanc says that having a deadline is the most useful strategy for helping her to write…. Susan LeBlanc was born in Halifax, N.S., and worked as a print journalist for twenty years. She later taught journalism at the University of King’s College. Turning to
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Reading time: About 2 minutes So many great works have been written under harsh circumstances, says writer J.T. Siemens, it should be seen as lame to look for excuses not to write…. J.T. Siemens is a Vancouver-based personal trainer, but his true love is writing crime fiction. To Those Who Killed Me, the
Reflections on writing with J.T. Siemens… Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Rebecca Morris says the simple activity of walking helps her to pay attention to the sensory details so important to her work… Rebecca Morris is a Montreal writer who published her debut novel, Other Maps, in September 2024. Her short stories have won the Malahat Review
Reflections on writing with Rebecca Morris…. Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Lynda Williams swears by the contrarian but life-affirming motto that we can do some of our best work on our worst days…. Lynda Williams is a short fiction writer based in Calgary, Alberta. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Grain, The New Quarterly,
Reflections on writing with Lynda Williams… Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Sue Murtagh says she lost a lot of time because she felt that if she couldn’t be an amazing writer, it would be a waste of time to even try…. Sue Murtagh lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is a graduate of the Alistair MacLeod
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