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Learning to See

A Writing Blog About Craft,
Creative Process
and How to Grow 
​as a Writer
"Learning to see is the basis for learning all of the arts."
​- Flannery O'Connor

A Mini-Interview with PVWW Instructor Eleanor Lane

2/11/2019

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Eleanor Lane talks monsters, favorite horror authors, why certain craft elements are even more crucial when writing scary stories, and what non-horror writers can learn from all of this. 

Interviewed by Joy Baglio

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​"Scary stories are actually very similar to jokes in terms of how important structure is. If you put a monster reveal a moment too soon, or have too many similar standoffs between main characters and monsters, or choose the wrong tense to tell the story in, the story will fall completely flat."
​

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Meet PVWW's Intern: Cressida Richards!

2/8/2019

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We are thrilled to welcome our first intern, Cressida Richards, to the PVWW team this season! Cressida is a poet, a recent University of Massachusetts Amherst grad, and a soon-to-be MFA candidate! She'll be working with PVWW's social media pages, blog, interviewing PVWW instructors and authors, and helping to organize a spring reading. We are so excited to work with her!

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH CRESSIDA!




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7 Craft Tips To Strengthen Your Sentence-Level Writing

1/21/2019

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by Joy Baglio

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No matter how compelling your ideas are or how intriguing the plot of your story, if your sentences don't entrance readers - or at the very least, don't make them stumble - it will be harder for your work to find an audience. The good news: Strengthening your sentence-level writing is a little like working out at the gym. Anyone can show up, learn these tips, and work on putting them into practice (aka: strengthening your sentence-level "muscles"). The more you read your work aloud, listen to the sound and flow of your own sentences, and think about syntax and sentence structure, the more you'll become aware when your sentences need tweaking. 

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January 14, 2019

1/14/2019

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Journaling Exercise: 

What Are Your Writing Goals?

​by Joy Baglio

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The New Year is the perfect time to get clear on your creative goals! You don't have to fulfill all of these goals immediately, but clarity and intention about what you want in your writing life is an important first step. Spend five minutes journaling about each of your goals in response to the following questions, and we're sure you'll come to some inspiring clarity about your goals!

1) Logistics: How would you like writing to happen in your life? How often do you want to write? Do you want to make it part of a daily or weekly routine? What time of day do you like to write? When can you fit it in to your day? When do you feel most creative?

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January 01st, 2019

1/1/2019

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New Year Writing Exercise:

Reflecting on 2018 In Vignettes

​by Joy Baglio

Directions: Free-write on each of the following topics for five minutes (set a timer), without trying to direct or control where it goes. Don't overthink it, just write whatever comes to mind on the following topics while trying to remember as deeply as possible. Use as many sensory, specific, and concrete details as possible. Don't worry about connecting these vignettes into a larger work - that often happens naturally, or can be worked on later. 

1) A person you met within the past year

2) A person you've known for years, who played a vital role in your life this past year. 

3) A joyful moment from the past year.

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December 01st, 2018

12/1/2018

4 Comments

 

So You Have Writer's Block?

Congratulations!

​by Carolyn Zaikowski

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So you have writer’s block. Congratulations! This means you’re officially a writer. 
 
I’m not just trying to make you feel better. Writer’s block has zero connection to your ability as a creative person. All writers on the face of the planet, through all of human history, have experienced it. If they say they haven’t, you can tell them Carolyn Zaikowski said they must be a creature from another galaxy. Or they’re fibbing. 
 
But if you’re anything like me, you sometimes want the end product right now.

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November 26th, 2018

11/26/2018

4 Comments

 

How Grief Breaks the Sentence

by Nikki Sambitsky

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My mind works in jumbles and pieces. Oftentimes, at my most vulnerable, thoughts come to me in fragments. What is it about grief that causes this, effectively breaking the sentence? My writing reflects this too. Last year, my MFA grad school mentor, T Fleischmann, asked me to keep a grief journal. It was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do. Both of my children, ages seven and four, have high-functioning autism. 

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November 25th, 2018

11/25/2018

13 Comments

 

What Does "Learning to See" Mean?

by Joy Baglio

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Hello, and welcome to the first-ever post of this blog! I'm Joy Baglio, Founder & Director of Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop, though first and foremost I'm a writer, working on short stories and a novel, and musing constantly on issues of craft! 

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What People Are Saying About PVWW

"Can't say enough about PVWW, Joy, and her amazing team of teachers! Writing is very much about the ability to sit in your seat for hours and put pen to paper, but coming to PVWW has helped me build a community around my writing, breathe new life into my efforts, and get out of my own head a bit. And beyond that, I've learned lots of practical, nuts-and-bolts techniques that have vastly improved my work."
- Emily Everett, Editor at The Common

Contact Us

Email: joy@pioneervalleywriters.org
Phone: 518-645-1113
Location: Williamsburg, MA

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  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • What People Are Saying
    • Craft Corner
    • Author Headshots
    • Policies
  • Writing Workshops
    • Multi-Week Workshops
    • One-Day Craft Classes
    • Young Writers
    • Apply for a Scholarship
  • Events
    • Open Community Writing
    • Calendar
  • Consulting
    • Manuscript Consulting & Editing
    • Consultants & Coaches
    • Writing Coaching
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Give / Create Scholarships
    • Intern at PVWW!
    • Apply to Teach at PVWW