Category: writing tips
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The Aesthetics of Poetics
by Leah Duarte After taking a break from submissions to develop my poetry manuscript, in September of 2025, I published several poems in a literary magazine for the first time in two years. Following such a long pause, returning to publication felt different. Having these pieces selected helped soothe my fears that my earlier publications…
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Embracing the Creative Chaos
by Rahma Mohamed As a writer, I constantly come across writing advice on the web, from writers I know, or from any other number of sources. The advice usually varies and comes with a “it may or may not work for you, so figure out what works for you” caveat. However, one of the most…
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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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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 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…
