Allison K Williams

Successfully Selling Memoir: It’s About the Reader By Allison K Williams The Walking Library in London “Writing an essay collection or a memoir is an act of generosity. A common misconception is that these kinds of books are all about the aut…

Who's the reader for your memoir? Why answering this question will help you find a publishing deal @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/10/08/a... #WritingCommunity #writinglife #authorlife #publishing #skywriters

Thank you!!! Glad to have you - bring your Q’s 😊

barbara peaches, painted by mary daisy arnold, 1912

barbara peaches, painted by mary daisy arnold, 1912

Reconstruction: Writing the Unknown As If It’s Real Makes Stronger Scenes By Allison K Williams How do you “show” when you just don’t know? First-person POV in both memoir and fiction demands emotional truth—but what happens when the main character doesn’t (or can’t) kno…

The fine art of perhapsing - essential sometimes for memoirists, also useful for novelists. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/r... #writingcommunity #authorcommunity #writingtips #memoir #writinglife #skywriters

WEBINAR | Micro Memoirs: Writing Tiny True Stories - Craft Talks Can you write a powerful, true story in less than 300 words? Learn how to write emotionally resonant, attention-grabbing micro memoirs.

Super excited to return to @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social's Craft Talks to teach a webinar on Micro Memoirs. This tiny form combines the best parts of memoir and poetry. And the early bird price is only $15!

Learn more: writingcraft.com/event/micro-...

Don’t Ask Readers to Cry for a Stranger (‘Cause They Won’t) By Allison K Williams Ever been to a funeral for someone you don’t know? Maybe your spouse’s coworker’s spouse, or your mother’s friend’s cousin. You felt the warm, hu…

A common mistake when trying to create empathy in the reader - @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/09/25/c... #writingcommunity #authorcommunity #writingtips #writinglife #skywriters

This just happened!!! I’m so excited. It will be my first time at @awpwriter.bsky.social! Thrilled to be on a panel with @janefriedman.com @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social Darien Hsu Gee & Tonya Todd! 💗

What Elizabeth Gilbert Gets Right About Telling the Hardest Truths By Rebecca Morrison I met Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the blockbuster Eat, Pray, Love, at a book event in DC last year. It wasn’t one of those quick “hello, sign my book” interactions. I arriv…

"The rawest parts of ourselves are never tidy. They can make us uncomfortable. But that’s okay. That’s the point of putting truth on the page."

@allisonkwilliams.bsky.social @riverheadbooks.bsky.social @dintywmoore.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/09/11/g...

“Sh*t Happened” Isn’t Enough: Crafting Compelling Memoir from Dramatic Action By Allison K Williams Recently, I heard a panel of distinguished agents and publishing-house editors discussing trends in publishing, social media, and where authors fit in the literary machine. Wh…

What might make your trauma memoir stand out? @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/08/05/d... #writingcommunity #memoir #authorlife #writinglife #skywriters

Memoir as Reliquary: Making Your Story Matter By Allison K Williams What makes a place, or a thing, matter? In The Late Scholar, Jill Paton Walsh’s continuation of Dorothy L. Sayers’ Golden Age detective novels, Peter Wimsey sees a…

In stories, whether fiction or non-fiction, we're not sharing the 'what'. We're sharing the 'why and how' - why and how something matters. Love this by @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/m... #writingcommunity #writinglife #memoir #skywriters

My CNF was published today by Sudden Flash. This was born in a workshop with @dintywmoore.bsky.social and @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social and revised in @smokelong.bsky.social Fitness.

yoursuddenflash.blogspot.com/2025/07/grie... Sudden Flash: Grief is a Steep Hill to Climb

No Expiration on Dreams: How I Published My Debut Novel at Seventy-Seven By Trish McDonald “Don’t you realize everything has an expiration date?” A literary agent asked me this question as I stood in front of a panel of publishing executives. It was 2020 and I had enter…

I'm thrilled for the author who triumphed in this competition, appalled at the lazyass publisher who expected her to be as expert at marketing as writing. Just what was the publisher going to add? @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/03/n... #writingcommunity #skywriters

What does our democracy need now? The sense of community I felt at a Capitol vigil for the Hortmans gave me insight and hope for our democracy.

www.minnpost.com/community-vo... Thanks, @minnpostbsky.social, for posing this question to readers and for publishing my essay. @susanlee.bsky.social @asantana70.bsky.social @chriswarcraft.bsky.social @jbendery.bsky.social @nplusonemag.com @hcrichardson.bsky.social @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social

Let’s make hot commie summer national, guys

The Archive Challenge — Win $400! - SmokeLong Quarterly How often do you read the literary journals you submit your work to? Flash has been around for centuries but as “flash” only for around 23 years, when James Thomas’s wife suggested the term. Lots of o...

This challenge starts June 25th. Read the archives of a favorite flash journal and get your name in the hat to win $400. www.smokelong.com/the-archive-...

Dear Writer, Don’t Bite Dear Writer/Artist/Creative Person of Some Type— We have been admiring your writing/painting/non-specific creative thing for a while/some time/the length of time it takes to do a Google search now …

"First comes the joyful feeling: Finally! My time has come! Then comes the sinking feeling: Wait. This doesn’t even mention the title of my book. Could they even have read it in a week?" ~ @sheilasquill.bsky.social
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Please take a break from reading war coverage to read this perfect gem of a #summer essay by Lindsey Pharr in the current Brevity @dintywmoore.bsky.social mag.

You'll thank me later.

brevitymag.com/current-issu...

#WritingCommunity

Just want to chime in and agree with all the people that have been saying that it is not stupid or frivolous to make art even though it feels like the world is going crazy right now.

On the contrary, it's books and movies and music and art that gets us through the hard times – so we need it now.

Hey, it's here! My new book comes out today. Hope you like it. ❤

Copaganda and Me Maris Kreizman writes about the way police are mythologized in popular culture in this excerpt from her book 'I Want to Burn This Place Down'

Rolling Stone has excerpted an essay from my forthcoming book. It's about what happens when you get all of your info about the world from the TV (cops are heroes!), and then go out into the world and see for yourself. www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...

Volcano People by Richard Mirabella Our sister went to help the people who came out of the volcano. She told us she was going to leave at the 4th of July picnic, while we sat around eating corn, our hands fatty with butter, silk in our ...

This story by @rpmirabella.bsky.social is so gorgeous and strange and sad, I loved it. That last line! hexliterary.com?p=2727

What if Substack Became the WordPress of Ten Years Ago? What if publishing had (finally) become simple again? Here’s what Substack made me realize after 10 years on WordPress.

I’ve been writing for years. But lately, I needed more simplicity. I tried Substack. A different energy, a different pace. Two tools, two ways of showing up online.

📖 metahussard.substack.com/p/what-if-su...

What space do you write from these days? #substack #wordpress #writing

But the people without privilege who are benefitting can’t talk about it, because having a thick skin is also a privilege.

Thanks for engaging with resources and thought - it’s been interesting to see writers I love and respect show up with obscenities in my inbox, another harm I’ll credit to AI.

to writers having any support or guidance beyond friends, teachers ($$) or good ol’ gumption. They aren’t writing a book with AI (and neither am I), but it’s helping them focus their work enough to move forward. Maybe they don’t deserve to have that—maybe the harm is too great.

Writers who needed a rough draft of their synopsis. Or who knew their work was full of repetition but couldn’t find it. Who asked for lists of questions to answer in their own stories. And who are terrified to speak, because the loudest members of the literary community are violently opposed

Hi J - appreciate your thoughtful take. About privilege - I’m getting publicly excoriated (yay strong feelings!) but privately, I’m hearing from writers with ADHD and cognitive/focus challenges who find an endlessly patient brainstorming partner helpful.

That’s actually not true - I mentioned Jane’s class because I’m taking it next week and she’s done a lot of research here. Respect to you and Justin - appreciate the thoughtful argument!

So pleased to see Brevity among such luminaries!

Improve Your Memoir by Thinking Like a Photographer By Grace Hwang Lynch My father handed me a black plastic USB drive in an old bill envelope with a glassine window. It was smaller than my finger and looked like one of the many useful things a retired...

For Brevity Magazine, I wrote about a UBS drive of photos and how they changed my writing brevity.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/p...

Paraphrasing for brevity: Misinformation evokes more outrage than real news, and users are more willing to share outrage-evoking misinformation without reading it first. SCIENCE magazine 2024. MORAL: when you feel outraged, scrutinize!