Here’s how to help your favorite writer in just five minutes…

May 2, 2024 Dear Writers, Thank you for signing up for Writing with Hart: News and Opportunities for Writers. I’m so glad you’re here! A shout out to two former writing students this month. The first, Ron Tinsley, just released his memoir Promise: A Story of Race, Culture and Black Potential. I got to read an early

Ask for What You Want, Writers.

And if you don’t get it, be creative. April 2nd, 2024 Dear Writers, Thank you for signing up for Writing with Hart: News and Opportunities for Writers. I’m so glad you’re here! Shout out to my former Writer Magazine colleague Yi Shun Lai for the publication of her debut young adult novel A Suffragist’s Guide to the

AWP Recap: Grief, TikTok & Diverse Writers

One of the largest literary conferences in the U.S. delights and surprises, always. February 28th, 2024 Dear Writers, Thank you for signing up for Writing with Hart: News and Opportunities for Writers. I’m so glad you’re here! Shout out to my friend Miriam Gershow whose book of stories, Survival Tips, comes out in March. See all of

Why Writers Need Coffee with Friends…and with Strangers

You may dislike critique groups, but don’t discount the power of the coffee date. January 3, 2023 Dear Writers, Thank you for signing up for Writing with Hart: News and Opportunities for Writers. I’m so glad you’re here! First, big congratulations to my Oregon colleague Emily Grosvenor for her publication of this inspiring personal essay: “Ditch the

50,000 Words in 30 Days?

Here’s Why NaNoWriMo Works for Me. November 1,2023 Dear Writers, First, a shout-out to my colleague and former personal essay-writing student Diane Gottlieb, editor of the brand-new anthology Awakenings: Stories of Bodies & Consciousness in which numerous storytellers weigh in on their relationships with their bodies and minds. I’m particularly interested in Diane’s new anthology

Publish Personal Essays to Build an Audience for Your Books

October 2, 2023 Dear Writers, Thank you for signing up for Writing with Hart: News and Opportunities for Writers. I’m so glad you’re here! First, a shout-out to my former University of Oregon journalism student who recently published Where We Call Home: Essays from the Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest. I ran into her

August 3,2023 Dear Writers, First, a shout-out to my former student and amazing poet/essayist Cricket Matthews for this newly-published poem (scroll down to read it; it’s titled “Hypothesis”) Notes | Pearl Press (pearl-press.com) And are you following author Jan M. Flynn’s blog? I certainly hope so. She was my student in a personal essay class,

Playtime for Writers!

What would happen if you allowed yourself to write without expectation of publication? December 1, 2022 Dear Writers, On Tuesday, I had a truly lovely glass of strawberry cider and some superb garlic rolls with my Eugene colleague—young adult novelist J.C. Geiger. We got to talking about what the brain scans of humans look like when

Impatience is the Enemy of Writers

Sometimes a story needs to sit in a drawer for a month . . . or a year. September 1, 2022 Dear Writers, Thank you for signing up for Writing with Hart: News and Opportunities for Writers. I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been thinking a lot about the revision process this week, because I finally had

Generate Story Ideas Wherever You Go!

It’s simply a matter of training your brain to spot them. August 1, 2022 Dear Writers, Thank you for signing up for Writing with Hart: News and Opportunities for Writers. I’m so glad you’re here! In mid-July, I emailed a bit of bonus content about how I challenge myself to come up with a story idea wherever I go