"Writing doesn’t all happen inside our heads. We also need the rebound—the moment our ideas and our practice are reflected back to us by somebody else, so we can see what we actually made." ~ Allison K Williams / @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social
Allison K Williams
@allisonkwilliams.bsky.social
Formerly GuerillaMemoir over there Writer, editor at Brevity, literal fire-eater Give yourself permission. linktr.ee/guerillamemoir
Excited to share this conversation w/memoirist Hamid Ran. Beyond our country of birth, thought Hamid & I had little in common, I wrote a novel, he a memoir, he came recently, I left Iran 47 yrs ago. But found was a different story. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/07/10/i...
A Conversation Between Immigrant Writers on Shame, Fear, and Responsibility
By Rebecca Morrison I left Iran in 1979, and wrote a novel, The Blue Dress, based on my childhood as an Iranian immigrant struggling with body image, and a complicated mother-daughter relationship.…
brevity.wordpress.com
Great piece on how to analyse what literary magazines are looking for - @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/07/14/s... #writingcommunity #creativewriting #authorlife
But What Do They Want?!? Write Publishable Essays by Analyzing Published Essays
By Allison K Williams A writer friend had an essay rejected fourteen times. It dealt beautifully with the journey of her abusive father’s dementia, and recognizing that her now-caring relatio…
brevity.wordpress.com
The best part of being an editor is that so many of my writers are experts in their fields. So this morning I (heathen) knew exactly who to email with the subject line “Biblical emergency.”
💫 Four weeks from tonight! Join author/editor @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social for a workshop on choosing your publishing path—Big Five, self‑publishing, hybrid, and more. Learn what to avoid and how to find solid industry info. Thurs 4/16, 7 PM ET 🎟️ circle.missionbelonging.org/c/events/cho...
W/thanks to @byjenamiller.bsky.social and @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social for sourcing.
Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus.bsky.social · 5mo agoAn intro to audio-book production, the freedom of letting go of a writing dream, and much more in this week's compilation for the #WritingCommunity. www.erikadreifus.com/2026/03/find...
"Some writers are motivated by a desire to 'show them' or make someone truly understand how they’ve hurt us. Spite helps motivate us to finish drafts but revenge doesn’t make good books." @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social discusses why family might not be supportive (especially online) re: your memoir.
Why Your Family Isn’t Supportive When You Publish Your Memoir | Jane Friedman
Lack of support might come from fears about their own privacy, not understanding the enormity of your achievement, and/or information overload.
janefriedman.com
Wise and brilliant post: why family and friends may not be as thrilled for your book as you'd hope. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @janefriedman.com janefriedman.com/why-your-fam... #writingcommunity #publishing #authorlife
Why Your Family Isn’t Supportive When You Publish Your Memoir | Jane Friedman
Lack of support might come from fears about their own privacy, not understanding the enormity of your achievement, and/or information overload.
janefriedman.com
Unless your family is very online, it’s unlikely they harm your reputation by attacking your writing. They can only make you uncomfortable, and if they’re that kind of person, they already do. Not publishing isn’t going to improve that relationship. adventuresinwriting.substack.com/p/good-writi...
(Good) Writing Isn't Safe
You can't write a powerful message while controlling how it will be received.
adventuresinwriting.substack.com
PSA to writer friends - have you backed up your computer lately?
A cautionary tale about where we make our online communities - how @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social finally restored her Facebook account and what she's now doing differently brevity.wordpress.com/2025/10/21/n... @dintywmoore.bsky.social #writinglife #writingcommunity #authorlife #skywriters
How I Successfully Restored My Facebook Account (and learned I needed a new community)
By Allison K Williams Did you miss me? For 5 months, I was off Facebook, my account disabled in a worldwide, AI-driven “crackdown” on rule-breakers, pornographers and hackers, Meta’s attempt to sho…
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Book Review: Seven Drafts - Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book by Allison K Williams (published in Jan 2001 by Woodhall Press ). An outstanding reference recommended for every writer's arsenal. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social mcmaenza.blogspot.com/2026/01/book... #SevenDrafts
Book Review: Seven Drafts - Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book
Classic album reviews from the 1970's and 1980's
mcmaenza.blogspot.com
Creativity is uncertainty. It's scary for all of us. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/n... #writingcommunity #writinglife #authorlife #creativewriting
There Is No Closure: Stop Organizing and Start Writing
By Allison K Williams My mother, as pageant queen Miss Do-It-Now, urging construction companies not to wait until spring. When people meet my mother, they nod and say, “That explains so much.” We a…
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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
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…
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barbara peaches, painted by mary daisy arnold, 1912
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
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…
brevity.wordpress.com
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-...
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.
writingcraft.com
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
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…
brevity.wordpress.com
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! 💗
"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...
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…
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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
“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…
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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
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…
brevity.wordpress.com
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
Grief is a Steep Hill to Climb
I was a voyeur watching with fascination like a child at a holiday parade.
yoursuddenflash.blogspot.com
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
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…
brevity.wordpress.com
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
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.
minnpost.com
Let’s make hot commie summer national, guys
Bloomberg News@bloomberg.com · last yr.Zohran Mamdani's shock win has Wall Street fretting over "hot commie summer"
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-...
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...
smokelong.com
"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 brevity.wordpress.com/2025/06/25/d...
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 …
brevity.wordpress.com
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
The Night Chorus | Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction
brevitymag.com
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.