Nonfiction

On this page, you’ll find titles of (and some links to) some of my nonfiction writing: articles on the craft/business/pedagogy of writing, opinion pieces/commentary, memoir, and more.

For a selected list of my published book reviews, please visit this page. For more information on the magazines and websites I’ve worked with as a freelance writer (and a sense of other subjects I’ve covered), please visit this page.

PERSONAL ESSAYS/MEMOIR

OPINION/COMMENTARY

ARTICLES  ON THE CRAFT, BUSINESS, AND PEDAGOGY OF WRITING

  • “Publishing Tip: What to Look for in Newsletters and Resource Lists,” The Malahat Review, December 2017.
  • “Making Poetry Pay: Five Ways to Increase Your Poetry Income,” AWP’s “The Writer’s Notebook,” July 2017.
  • “13 Questions to Ask Before Submitting to a Literary Journal,” Literary Hub, June 2016.
  • “Five Ways for Writers to Avoid Oversharing,” MissouriReview.com, May 2015.
  • “After the MFA: Fantasy, Reality, and Lessons Learned,” Poets & Writers (online exclusive), September/October 2014.
  • “Habits of Highly Successful Short Story Writers,” in Rachel Randall, ed., 2014 Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market, (Blue Ash, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 2013). ISBN 978-1599637297.
  • “5 Free and Easy Ways to Promote Your Book,” The Writer, September 2012.
  • “Improve Your Winning Chances: Niche Literary Competitions and Awards May Mean Less Competition for You,” The Writer, February 2012.
  • “7 Reasons This Writer May Unfollow You on Twitter,” Writermag.com, December 2011.
  • “Find a Custom Home at a Niche Journal,” The Writer, November 2011.
  • “What’s in a Title?” CenterforFiction.org, July 2011.
  • “Get the Most Out of the AWP Conference,” The Writer, February 2011.
  • “Niche MFAs,” The Writer, November 2010.
  • “Choosing a Low-Residency Program in Creative Writing,” in Tom Kealey, ed., The Creative Writing MFA Handbook, rev. ed. (New York: Continuum, 2008). ISBN 978-0-8264-2886-8.
  • “MFA Grads Find Nonteaching Jobs on Campus,” The Writer, November 2008.
  • “Ethics Cheat Sheet,” Writer’s Digest, December 2006.
  • “How to Submit Your Short Story,” The Writer, October 2005. (Republished in Short-story Basics, a supplement to The Writer.)
  • “Learning Short-Story Writing By Example,” The Writer, September 2005.  (Republished in Short-story Basics, a supplement to The Writer.)
  • “Minding Your Online Manners,” Writer’s Digest, June 2005.
  • “Make the Most of Your Next Conference Workshop,” The Writer, April 2005.
  • “The Lowdown on Low-Residency Programs,” Poets & Writers, March-April 2005. (Republished in The Poets & Writers Guide to MFA Programs.)
  • “Beyond Writing Conferences & Residencies: More Summer Opportunities for Writers Who Teach, AWP Job List, January 2005.
  • “In Praise of Polyglossia,” Matrix 66 (Spring 2004).
  • “Pushing the Limits of ‘Writing What You Know,'” The Willamette Writer, May 2004. (Revised version of a paper presented at the “Limits of the Past: The Human Sciences and the Turn to Memory” conference at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., April 2002.)
  • “Keeping Silent? Writing Fiction After September 11,” Queen’s Quarterly 111(1): Spring 2004, 35-43. (Revised version of a paper presented at the “Why Write?” conference held at Columbia University in New York City, 28-29 May 2003; republished by Numéro Cinq in 2011.)
  • “A Focus on James’s ‘Surrounding Scene’: Examining the Place of Paris in The Ambassadors,” Henry James Review 25.1 (2004): 44-51. (Revised version of a presentation delivered at the “Henry James Today” conference in Paris, July 2002.)
  • “Surviving MFA Critiques,” The Writer, January 2004.
  • “‘Yeats Summer Camp,’ Or What I Did Over My Summer Vacation,” Literary Traveler, Fall 2003.
  • “Letters to a Young Writer”/”Why I Write,” Teachers & Writers, May-June 2003.
  • “Closing Shop: The Last Writing Class,” Kansas English 88.1 (Spring 2003): 79-81. (Reprinted in a revised version as “A Fine Finish” in Community College Week, May 2004.)
  • “Common Ground: Crafting ‘Fact’ and ‘Fiction,'” Arizona English Bulletin 45.1 (Spring 2003): 34-37.
  • “Making a Living, Making a Life: A Workshop in Character Development,” Oregon English Journal 24.1 (Spring 2002): 27-29. (Reprinted in a revised version as “Working Men and Women: Characters and Their Development,” by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.)

OTHER ARTICLES AND ESSAYS 

“A VIEW FROM THE USA” COLUMNS IN THE JEWISH CHRONICLE (UK)