About every six months or so, I check out the courses being offered at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. While I don’t always sign up, I almost always find one that addresses my writing needs at the moment.
Short stories are a great way to hone your craft and snag bylines from literary magazines (and hey, they’re also a ton of fun to write). Even better, they can help you build your readership—assuming they’re written well.
But alas, as the editor of a short story website, I see a number of common mistakes over and over again, even from authors with great fundamentals. Worse than just errors in craft, these mistakes betray readers’ trust and investment in your story.
One would-be writer asked me recently, “How do you stick with your writing plans for more than a week?” It’s a great question, and one that I asked myself for about a decade as I slowly made my way from wannabe writer to full-time writer.
How do you write consistently? Even when you’re busy? Even when you lose your motivation to write?
