This Saturday March 17th, Jesse Graves will lead a narrative poetry workshop, sponsored by the KWG. Our recent interview with Jesse–see below–reveals his expansive mindset on poetry, learning, and East Tennessee. Jesse Graves grew up in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee, a community his ancestors settled in the 1780s. He is an Associate Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence […]
Today’s post is part of a series written in conjunction with the Senior Memoir Writing Workshops taught earlier this year by writing coach and workshop leader Bonny C. Millard. Knoxville Writers’ Guild sponsored the workshops, funded with a grant by the East Tennessee Foundation. This is a fictionalized account of a family story. […]
by Bonny C. Millard I don’t remember exactly when my interest developed, but my love of other people’s stories must have started early in my life during trips across the United States with my grandparents every summer, moving around in their travel trailer to stay in out-of-the-way places like gypsies on the run. My grandfather […]
Bob Mayer has published over 70 books, hitting bestseller lists in the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, with four titles hitting #1 on Kindle’s Science Fiction list. He graduated from West Point, and commanded a Green Beret A-Team. His presentations have engaged audiences in over a thousand organizations in […]
I caught up with novelist Julia Watts the other day to get a sense of her notions on her upcoming KWG program (11/2/17). A really interesting exchange developed on good story beginnings, critiques, and guild programing: DREWS: Can a good book have a bad or even average beginning? WATTS: Absolutely! Some books are “slow […]
“The discipline of a writing group kept me going to finish my first novel. Their constructive criticism helped me polish it enough to get an agent pretty quickly. When I picked a tough structure for my fourth novel—multiple protagonists—the group helped me work through sticky issues of plot, pacing, voice, and character development. It’s not […]
Looking for some tech to organize your notes and thoughts? The New York Times recently listed some favorite mobile apps for the writing life. • Storyist is a full-featured writing app that provides easy formatting for manuscripts, screenplays, and novels. It can also help you keep and organize notes about characters, plot points, and scene […]
A Quick Guide to Not Losing Your Mind About Social Media 1. Whatever platform you chose, social media is secondary to your writing. Don’t use your best, creative time to do social media. You can Twitter when you’re tired and uninspired. Writing? Not so much. 2. There are currently 12-15 social media platforms. Pick two. […]