In an earlier A Work in Progress I wrote about what I most missed after completing coursework for my MA in writing. To fill that gap, I started a writing group. It’s meant so much to me and been so helpful to me that I started a second group.…
A Work in Progress: The Value of Short Fiction Contests, Even for Novelists
A group of Story Street Writers entered the NYC Midnight 100-word contest together as a fun little exercise. At midnight on a given day, participants are assigned a genre, a word, and an action, and entries must be submitted within 24 hours.…
A Work in Progress: OK, I’ll Focus, But on What?
For years I’ve worn an oversized memento mori ring on the secure side of my tight-fitting wedding band. The rattle continually reminds me of the commitment I chose, but I’ve mostly ignored the memento mori ring. It’s been the clapper in the bell, noisy but invisible, essential but forgotten.…
A Work in Progress: Writing from Death Row
Fifteen days ago, I received news that landed like a death sentence. A suite of MRIs that I received after a month-long headache revealed multiple brain lesions consistent with multiple sclerosis.
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I asked the doctor what type of multiple sclerosis he thought it was. After more than an hour of medical explanations, questions, and matter-of-fact answers, he broke eye contact and looked at the floor. I knew what was coming. I'd done the reading.
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I asked the doctor what type of multiple sclerosis he thought it was. After more than an hour of medical explanations, questions, and matter-of-fact answers, he broke eye contact and looked at the floor. I knew what was coming. I'd done the reading.
A Work in Progress: What I Learned When I Quit Taking Classes
Just before Covid descended, I applied to an online writing program. As a high school math teacher, it was a stretch to convince my boss to convince his boss that an online master’s degree in creative writing and literature should be paid from the school’s professional development funds, but the fates intended for me to study writing, I guess, and he and his boss agreed to pay my tuition.…