A DAILY DOSE by Deborah Elliott-Upton Last year I was invited to participate in a fund raiser for The Writing Academy. The book, Daily Devotions for Writers, was compiled by Patricia Lorenz and edited by her and my good friend, Melanie Rigney, and is so hot off the presses it’s sizzling. Between the covers live […]

CHASING CREATIVITY by Deborah Elliott-Upton Recently another writer shared with me that he heard an author announce since she became a writer, she no longer gardened, although she loved working with the earth and seeing things grow. She’d also given up quilting and determined she would sew no more — all so she could become […]

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW by Deborah Elliott-Upton I’ve been asked: When do writers stop attending writer’s workshops? My answer: When the writer becomes a know-it-all. Okay, I am sure there are many writers who no longer attend writer’s conferences as an attendee, nor do they necessarily need to do so. This is probably a personal […]

DROPPING NAMES by Deborah Elliott-Upton In another column I mentioned a short story I was writing which deals with the throes of teenage puberty. My main character was a fourteen-year-old boy named Aidan, the most popular name for boys in 2007. Without exception, every reader didn’t just not identify with my protagonist, no one liked […]

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Deborah Elliott-Upton In her Tuesday column, Melodie touched on how each of the Criminal Briefers were different in their pacing practices. The same goes to another vital distinction among writers: our voice. Voice can be defined as personality on the page. As a Personality Trainer with CLASServices, I am fascinated […]

INSPIRED by Deborah Elliott-Upton To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything. — Anatole France An acquaintance is who neither a writer nor an avid reader asked me how I get inspired to write everyday. “I don’t always,” I answered. “But, you do write everyday, right?” “Do you go to work everyday? Are […]

RITUALS by Deborah Elliott-Upton A man always has two reasons for what he does—a good one, and the real one. –J. Pierpont Morgan ***MY NAME IS DEBORAH ELLIOTT-UPTON AND I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE*** Everyone has their own little rituals. My first subscription was to ’TEEN magazine, which I paid for myself. My first fiction magazine […]