When I was visiting my grandmother one summer afternoon, she pulled out a letter I sent her. "This is good," she said. "Really?" She pointed at the paragraphs and said the ideas were well o

Just as musicians credit their musical influences, writers, too, have literary inspirations who help them discover and shape their unique voice. At a White House event for poets in 2011, Billy Coll

On a sunny spring day, I sat with seven homeschoolers on a stretch of grass for a creative writing session. The older kids started to fidget before we even started. "What are we doing out here?"

Jennifer Dukes Lee invites you to transform into a better writer through beautifully ruthless self-discovery. It starts in the pages of your journal. In a recent interview, she delves into t

During the early years of parenthood, I wasted a lot of time feeling sorry for myself. Why can't I have my own dedicated writing space? Why can't I have blocks of uninterrupted time? The overwhe

Nearly everyone who writes personal stories in any form has agonized over how much to share. Will writing about an issue from childhood break Mom's heart? Should I change the name of a high scho

As writers, we spend countless hours crafting and refining our work to perfection. We labor over word choices, sentence structure, and the perfect flow. Despite our best effortseven after a pass t

Years ago, one of my clients updated me on her publishing journey. She turned in her manuscript on deadline, so that was a huge relief. Then her editor asked for one last piece she'd put off. "A

Consider a lowly stick, memorialized by my friend: Little Y StickFragile, knobby crossroads in my fingersBring me eyes to see how God is in my midst.1 Jennifer Dukes Lee penned that poem afte

Gain inspiration from the journey of a first-time author who transformed her dream of writing into a reality by taking bold action. Merideth Hite Estevez's success story involved launching a captivati