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The Importance of Community
by Rahma Mohamed A lot of us think of writing as a solitary activity. You sit down, open your writing application, and start writing. What if I told you that it doesn’t have to be? Writing is a process. As they say, it takes a village. One of the most important stages of the process…
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The story behind the cover for our anthology, Forest Floor
by Paavan Agarwal The cover design team for our anthology project was tasked with designing the book cover. Vanessa came up with the initial concept – an image of a tree and its shadow that represented its roots, along the silhouette of a hand. Given our group’s name, Writers in Trees, and our theme, roots,…
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Scrubbing Brains: Mental Hygiene Tips for Writers
by Leah Duarte My mother once told me she wished she could take my brain out of my head and scrub it clean before putting it back. It was difficult not to recall the conversation the first time I heard of mental hygiene: a loving bit of body horror with scrubbing brushes and dish towels…
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The Importance of Close Reading
by Lauren Redwood It goes without saying that literature is inspiration for writers. Some might say it is the kindling for our own inner voices. We all have our favourite pieces of written work. What makes them stand out amidst the thousands of other works? What in those pages calls out to us? There are…
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Authenticity in Fiction
By John Bao These two concepts look contradictory at first glance, but lately, I’ve found that the best kinds of stories (or at least in my opinion!) always have the element of an authentic voice, no matter the genre or medium. You can write about fantastical worlds with magic systems or futures where we can…
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The Quotable Dennis Bock: Writing tips for fiction writers
Dennis Bock teaches Creative Writing classes, including “Writing the Literary Novel: Master Class” at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies and at the Humber School for Writers. When it comes to offering advice to aspiring and emerging writers, Dennis doesn’t pull punches. He’s honest and direct, and often says things that linger in…
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Five Tips for Aspiring Writers (From an Aspiring Writer!)
By Chelsea Kowalski Isn’t it funny how if you add the word “aspiring” to a noun, it suddenly becomes a lot more hopeful? With the word “aspiring”, there’s still room for mistakes and growth and bad drafts; in fact, all of that is encouraged. There’s little expectations beyond that of actually writing (a task which…