It's Time for Connections

Telling Stories begins programs -- writing sessions, digital story workshops, critique sessions to connect other writers and help us improve. Free.

My Dear Subscribers,

Some of you may have noticed that over the last few months, more stories have appeared in your email. I hope you are entertained by what I am posting.

I’ve expanded what I’m doing here and here’s why:

In 2021, when I first came to Substack, I had a plan: Publish a version of my when-completed novel, Hiram Falls, as a digital series and podcast. What drew me was the simplicity, the collection of writers, the way you could incorporate sound into your text. And, of course, that it was free and provided a way for me to collect donations if I wished.

Evolution happens. I finished my novel. At the urging of my editor, I found an agent and now await word from 10 publishers who have it resting on their desks. I have my “Plan A” if I don’t get any nibbles.

But while I waited, I met up with

Sarah Fay

, a kind soul with the metabolism of a humming bird and the expertise and kindness of a saint. Sarah helped me see that I had more to offer than my novel. She liked my writing; she saw that after 50+ years of writing, editing and working in digital spaces, I had much more to offer: oodles of stories, tips, and new ways of doing this writing thing. She also noted that I love bringing people together to write.

Thank you, Sarah.

So this space has evolved. I have migrated my best Stories here and am working on new ones. I have published my best On Writing tips, including using digital sound and images to enhance storytelling and new ones are coming. I am now marching over some of my Tiny Tales — bite-sized anecdotes and tidbits of every genre.

And I continue to post about Hiram Falls, including Sketches and A Writer’s Journal — how I wrote the book.

Now I am starting the fun part. I call it Connections. I will be providing regular Live Writing Sessions, Workshops on Storytelling and Digital Media and Critique Sessions. I have opened a Chat and am all ears if there is something you want to do. At the moment everything is free. We’ll see how it goes.

I will be doing the actual work on a new, private Substack to give people more freedom to write. (I will be cross-posting the prompts here along with whatever pieces participants want me to make public.) When I announce sign-ups, I will add you to the private site’s subscriber list.

My strength, I believe, is helping people write better. I have worked with everyone from interns to Pulitzer Prize winners to fifth graders to adults struggling with opiate addiction.

I like to devise new ideas to write to and new ways to do it. The sessions are governed by one word — respect — which allows participants to develop the trust needed to take creative risks. Many also develop deep friendships in the process.

My experience? An award-winning journalist. For nearly five years I ran online Live Writing Sessions — first weekly and then monthly; writers came from all over the world. I resumed those sessions recently with my first Thursday Live Writing Session; the writing was inspiring from writers from England to Colorado, Harlem to San Diego, Vermont to Georgia.

For nine months I ran weekly weekly writing sessions with people struggling with addiction; a powerful learning experience. And for 12 years I helped thousands of kids find their writing voices —and trained hundreds of teachers to better teach those students — through a nonprofit I created, The Young Writers Project.

I will continue to post the schedule of events, announcements of sign-up, the prompts. And please use my Chat here to suggest things that we could do that would help you become a better writer.

Because we’re always trying to get better, aren’t we?