Welcome to Pairings

When Mark Twain advised to write tight, he surely hadn't been enchanted by the Buzz Words of 2014. Read on for my Fable of Our Times.

How does inspiration strike? For these authors, it's the random events in everyday life that sparked ideas for their novels.

Here’s why Scrivener can easily become your go-to tool for organizing your research and writing and pictures.

When you’re researching historical fiction, it would be so much easier to rev up the Time Machine. Here's how I did without time travel.

Whether you’re a Scrivener power user or a beginner, here are a few things Scrivener can do that you probably can’t do without.

Henry Miller's own Eleven Commandments of Writing helped him maintain his focus on work in progress. Can they help with yours, too?

Here's how four words — Create First, React Later — can help to keep you on the writing track.

Do rainy days always get you down, or are they the best days for creativity?

Knowing when to stop writing is a lot easier than starting to write in the first place. But it's simple: You just have to show up.

Don’t let fear become the biggest influence in your creative life. Find your commitment to painting and writing by delving into your fears.

"The work never never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with" — William Faulkner

Inspiration strikes in strange and unexpected ways. But when it doesn’t strike, there are three tricks to juice it along.

Embrace your dual gifts: you can inhabit two worlds, and you can slide between them with ease. It’s just what writers do.

In one short paragraph author Flannery O'Connor nails down her work ethic — one that will motivate your creative soul.

Inspiration comes from many places. No use pretending it all comes out of our heads with no other stimulation. We rely on influences.

There’s a saying in real estate, that it’s all about location. Location. Location. Location. It’s just as true in writing historical novels.

Broken is from a 1980 road trip I made across the U.S., and gives me a chance to pair my photo with my favorite quote from literature.