First day of the final draft. In 2020, genius-me finished the first draft of my current novel-in-progress, in only six months. Finished! Why do people moan about how hard writing is? Knowing how to…

As of Jan 1, I've been using a brilliant journalling technique that a writing instructor shared: Spend five minutes each night before bed writing about your manuscript. (Not working on it, mind you. That comes the next day.) State the problem--e.g., Why isn't my short story, "Smooch," working for me? Turn the problem over to your 'secret helper,' your subconscious mind…

When I'm writing well, it feels like flying. Heady, steady, free. No need to steer or fear. Perfect harmony: page, words, brain. I'm not flying now. I'm standing on a rock, holding the pages of a story I'm shaping, and gathering myself to leap with them into flight. I'm crouching, readying, springing up and...no. My feet are crafted from stone, from the rock itself.

A short story by Ellen Symons “You can say no.” Could she? Susan’s finger flicked over the edge of the lawyer’s square conference table, wishing it were round. Straight edges unsettled her: dangerous cliffs, appearing from nowhere, causing her elbow to knock pencils, notepads, cups of coffee to the floor. Causing her brain to fill with images of herself sailing over, into an endless fall.

In December of 2024, my short story "The Menagerie" made the long list for the regional Lanark Lit Writing Competition, in the Adults 30+ category. While it didn't place in the top three, I'm very proud of this story for going as far as it did: one step before the final round. The jury, made up of several writers whose work I admire, offered these words about the story:

This post contains a participation component! Read to the end to jump in. Previously, on this blog, I spent a year or so writing what I thought was a form of haiku. How wrong I was! In November, 2024, Claudia Radmore, past president of Haiku Canada, led a workshop on haiku that showed us participants the surprising freedom, and the restrictions, of the haiku form.