This week’s excuse for not making more progress on my book or anyone else’s is that I have my first cold in two years, and staring at words makes my headache worse—which has not prevented me from ...

A friend just sent me an e-mail asking for writing tips. Her question is a common one -- I get this question every month from one of my doctoral students, one of my former students, or someone outside ...

My dad used to say, “I’ve got a good memory, it’s just short.” I believe this is a hereditary trait. But I have a feeling it infects many of us. Ideas are often lost when we depend on our mental ...

When I work with graduate or undergraduate students on their writing skills, I often ask them to tell me about their writing process, from the note-taking stage through pre-writing, writing, and final ...

When is the last time you actually wrote an idea or strategy down… with your actual hand? Today, using a pencil or pen is becoming as rare as pulling out a Blackberry. Just this week, Time Magazine ...

This question originally appeared on Quora. Answer by Ellen Vrana, writer, blogger: This is the approach I use to generate content and ideas. I’m an essayist. (Although I prefer “woman of letters”—can ...

My mom taught me how to write when I was four, and I’ve been obsessed with writing ever since. Since then, I’ve used writing as a way to express my opinions, make new friends and build invaluable ...