"Smile though your heart is aching Smile even though it's breaking" ~ from "Smile," music by Charlie Chaplin, lyrics by John Turner and Geoffry Parsons Coming tomorrow: a new blog post about memory and empathy.

Because I wanted to feel like a native—wanted to be accepted—I became, in the words Henry James used to describe a writer, “one of the people upon whom nothing is lost.” leemartinauthor.com/2026/01/11/smi…

"The scariest moment is always just before you start." ~ Stephen King Coming tomorrow: a new blog post with tips for people just beginning to write a novel.

Be bold, be adventurous. Don’t censor yourself, and by all means, don’t let anyone else intrude on your writing process. leemartinauthor.com/2026/01/18/tip…

Here are some tips for novelists. leemartinauthor.com/2026/01/18/tip…

"He started using a new writing method of pulling a wool cap over his eyes while typing . . . ." ~ from a Wikipedia article about Kent Haruf Coming tomorrow: a new blog post about displacement's advantages for writers.

Last week, I had to write in our basement. Here's what I learned. leemartinauthor.com/2026/01/25/to-…

"Writing poetry is the hard manual labor of the imagination." ~ Ishmael Reed Coming tomorrow: a new blog post addressing the connections I see between manual labor and writing.

Our writing can be frustrating from time to time, but we need not let our frustration stop us. leemartinauthor.com/2026/02/01/wha…

"To understand the living present, and the promise of the future, it is necessary to remember the past." ~ Rachel Carson Coming tomorrow: a new blog post about how the present sometimes contains a past.

When the past finds you, don’t look away. Be open to everything around you. leemartinauthor.com/2026/02/08/the…

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." ~ from Robert Frost's "The Death of The Hired Man" Coming tomorrow: a new blog post about putting characters to use.

Sometimes writing the draft of a novel is a matter of auditioning characters. They come onto our pages, and we have to decide who to keep and who to let go. leemartinauthor.com/2026/02/15/tim…

"When you have a conflict, that means that there are truths that have to be addressed on each side of the conflict." ~ Dolores Huerta Coming tomorrow: a new blog post about dialogue as discovery in our first drafts.

leemartinauthor.com/2026/02/22/let…

"There is so much joy in the world, waiting to be found." ~ Noah Kahan Coming tomorrow: a new blog post about the importance of asking our characters what they love.

We think so often about what troubles our characters, but there’s much to be gained by also investigating the things that bring them joy. leemartinauthor.com/2026/03/01/wha…

“I had learned already never to empty the well of my writing, but always stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.” ~ Ernest Hemingway leemartinauthor.com/2026/03/09/get…

"I am going to try to pay attention to the spring. I am going to look around at all the flowers, and look up at the hectic trees. I am going to close my eyes and listen." ~ Anne Lamott Coming tomorrow: a writer's spring miscellany.

I keep going even though there are times when the whole business of writing and publishing disappoints me. leemartinauthor.com/2026/03/15/a-w…