Charlotte Lit’s Blog

Welcome to Charlotte Lit’s literary arts blog. What you’ll find here: reviews, interviews, craft essays, previews of literary arts events, and anything else that catches our attention.

Writing as Ritual

Part of Charlotte Lit’s “Keeping Pen to Paper” Series. Sometimes writers come to the page with an idea, a character, or an event in mind. But what if you sit down to write and your head is suddenly blank as your page? Poet CA Conrad has a helpful practice in using ritual to spark ideas […]

Future Self

Part of Charlotte Lit’s “Keeping Pen to Paper” Series. Right now, it is difficult to envision and plan for the future, something we would take for granted through most periods of our life. Therefore, I thought it might be a cathartic experience to imagine ourselves in an indefinite future (one year, ten years, fifty years […]

Show and Tell

Part of Charlotte Lit’s “Keeping Pen to Paper” Series. One of the great lies of writing instruction is “show don’t tell.” The truth is, you’ll need both. Here’s a quick primer, and an activity to help you to understand and use showing and telling. Showing is a catchier way of saying “in scene.” When we write […]

What do we owe each other?

Part of Charlotte Lit’s “Keeping Pen to Paper” Series. Today is (usually) tax day in the U.S., which got me thinking about the biblical exchange where Jesus is asked whether it’s lawful to pay tax to Caesar. He asks whose image is on their coins; they reply: ‘Caesar’s.’ To which Jesus says, ‘Then repay to […]