It's easy to get down about the state of being female; every day it seems the world dreams up a new way to shame and oppress women. But for every "legitimate rape," war on choice, and violent reaction to empowered femininity, there's an amazing organization working tirelessly to support and honor women. Too often, these groups don't get the cred they deserve.Today we're giving some mad ups to Girls Write Now, a NYC-based non-profit that ... Read More

Have you ever thought about writing a novel? Well, you can, and will, write one in a month. Seriously. November is National Novel Writing Month, and NaNoWriMo will help you crank out a 50,000-word novel by the last day. Register on their website and get set up with a bunch of awesome and helpful resources, including email pep talks from successful writers, forums to chat (or whine) with other NaNoWriMo participants, and compare your word ... Read More

Ever wonder where your brilliant and not so brilliant sentences come from? In this grand age of social media, more writers than ever have access to an audience, and vice versa. Writers are feeling the pressure to craft flawless sentences in order to gain prominence and, more importantly, avoid scrutiny.  While many argue that certain insights, observations, emotions, and other right-brained qualities that an effective piece of writing ... Read More

We want to say a great big early happy birthday to Girls Write Now! The first organization in the United States with a writing and mentoring model exclusively for girls, Girls Write Now celebrates its 15th anniversary on Thursday, September 20.       Girls Write Now matches high school girls from underserved neighborhoods in New York City with women professional writers as their personal mentors. In this program, ... Read More

This past month my parents put my childhood house up for sale.  So, I had to tidy up my room and clear the clutter for the streams of suburbanites that would be perusing my bedroom, envisioning the many ways in which to redecorate – no doubt my hot pink shag rug would be the first thing tossed, that and my Dave Matthews Band poster.   But, as I was sifting through my desk for easy toss-aways (as if such a thing ... Read More