"In great fiction, the setting lives from the very first pages. Such places not only feel real, they are dynamic. They change. They affect the characters in the story. They become metaphors, possibly even actors in the drama.

       Powerfully portrayed settings seem to have a life of their own, but how is that effect achieved?            Make your setting a character is a common piece of advice given to fiction writers, yet beyond invoking all five senses when describing the scenery, there's not a lot of info out there about exactly how to do it.

      The trick is not to find a fresh setting or a unique way to portray a familiar place; rather, it is to discover in your setting what is unique for your characters, if not for you.

      You must go beyond description, beyond dialect, beyond local foods to bring setting into the story in a way that integrates it into the very fabric of your characters' experience."

       -By Donald Maass, Literary Agent, Author of The Breakout Novelist  

    (Reprinted from writersdigest.com)

      Every New Year is an opportunity for a do-over. Resolutions help make change a reality. Here are writing resolutions you may want to adopt.

1. Resolve to . . .step outside your comfort zone.

    Change is difficult, but not to be feared. Anything that does not change or grow, eventually dies.

2. Resolve to . . .make time for writing.

    We make time for what we value and we build habits and routines around those things. Writing matters. The world is influenced by the power of the written word. 

3. Resolve to . . .trust in the power of your own creativity. 

      "In order to create you have to believe in your ability to do so and that often means ... pumping yourself up as much as possible... Sort of cheering for yourself in the great football stadium of life."

  --T.C. Boyle

(Barnes & Noble Review, email dialogue with Cameron Martin, Feb. 2009)

4. Resolve to . . .learn your craft.

     Writing is no different than any other skill--it must be learned. No rational individual would attempt to build a house without learning how simply because he lived in one.The same goes for writing. Mastery of craft is the deciding factor between success and failure.

5. Resolve to . . .call yourself a writer.

    You are a writer when you say you are. So stick out your chest and declare, "I am a writer."

     Remember, "Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• Angela Alsaleem, Writing Loft Director, "At a Loss for Words"

• Sabiha Alsaleem, age 12, Writing Loft Scoop Squad, "Festival of Color"

• Johanne Cronk Carreau, Writing Loft Student, "Fall Decorating: Your senses Make All The Difference"