Introduction “It is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is common in all writing and among the best of writers.” – E. B. White “You don’t care about those first three pages; those you will throw out, those you needed to write to get to that fourth page, to get to that one long paragraph that was what you had in mind when you started, only you didn’t know that, couldn’t know that, until you got to it.” ― Anne Lamott I wrot

by Kate Gaston The last of the autumn leaves have released their grip, and the holiday season is upon you. As you stare out the window at the first snowfall, you find your heart inexplicably yearning for a table laden with delicious food and flickering candles. You daydream of friends and family gathered together in a Rockwellian tableau, everyone smiling broadly, wearing vintage sweaters, and pleased as punch to be sitting around your table. You’ve been hearing the word “hos

There are few questions that follow writers around more faithfully than this one: How do I know if I’m truly called to write? Not in the abstract, not as an idea we carry around like a someday-dream, but in the real, lived-out sense—here in the middle of family, work, fear, longing, and limitations. Of course, that question doesn’t apply to writers only—artists and creators of every stripe want to know what they are called to do, to be, to make. Andy Patton sat down with Will