On this final day as guest editor at SheWrites, I’d like to cover an important element of writing if you hope to eventually publish your “flash” fiction and nonfiction. This process comes from an excerpt of an article in The Rose Metal Press Field Guide for Writing Flash Fiction entitled “Editing and Revising Flash Fiction”…
Tag: flash memoir
The Value of Flash: Lose the Critic and Find the Strength
Writing fast and furious is the goal in “flash” fiction and nonfiction because by doing so you outran that pesky little character called your “inner critic,” which is that mean and shaming voice in your head that tells you everything you write is stupid and not worth the time, effort, and concentration you’re spending on…
The Value of 20 Minutes a Day
On my blog at lenleatherwood.wordpress.com, my primary focus has been to write for a minimum of 20 minutes a day. I decided to start my blog when I knew (several months ago) that I would be presenting a 20 Minutes a Day workshop at the 2012 Story Circle Network Memoir Conference in Austin, Texas, and…
I Will Be the SheWrites Guest Editor Beginning Sunday
On Sunday, I will be serving as the guest editor for the week over at SheWrites.com, a blog with over 19,000 members (mostly women, but some men), who are excited about writing. I hope you will come over and visit this week. Membership is free and I could use the support! We will be covering…
Flash Memoir: Where the Love Was
I didn’t want to go to kindergarten when it was time for me to go. All my friends were going to Humpty Dumpty Play School, but I hated it. I much preferred to stay at home and play by myself or with baby Sam in our room, near Mama. I played school on my own,…
Memoir Prompt: Memories of My Dad
Yesterday was my father’s birthday. Here is a piece I wrote about him a while back, but still rings true for me. A window into my world with him: “Have I told you today how much I love you?” This was a question my father asked me every day I was growing up. “I love…
Gas heater When I was a little girl, I spent many a night curled up on the hearth in front of a gas heater, listening to the hiss of the gas and staring at the orange and blue flames. Often I could hear my dad’s snoring in his nearby bed, the rhythmic cadence that told…
My Imaginary Friend, Tommy Wizzims
I told this story to some of the volunteers at the St. Thomas the Apostle Breakfast Club where we were feeding the homeless this morning. Someone was saying she fell in love with a teenage boy when she was three. I had to tell her about Tommy Wizzims. Here is that story written a while…
The Secret of How to Help A Baby Go to Sleep
Tomorrow is my daughter Elizabeth’s 26th birthday. She is coming over so we can celebrate. Waffles and turkey bacon are on the menu for brunch, then we have a few movies to watch before having the “official’ birthday meal, which will be of her choosing. It is a tradition in our family that we talk…
Prompt: The Gift of a Quilt
I am giving each of my three daughters a quilt as a keepsake. These are not quilts made by me with fabric from their Easter dresses or from their first days of school. How I wish I had been so forward thinking that I had saved those favorite dresses and tops for that purpose! No,…
20 Minutes a Day 