Michelle Wright

“The first rule of writing, Mr. Tupman, is never write what you know.” Jo said this on Little Women—the movie anyway. I haven’t read the book in ages. It’s always been my favourite line. Later in the story, Jo is encouraged to write from life, but I like her enthusiasm for the adventuresome stories she wrote. I’ve been giving this some thought recently because I hadn’t decided whether it’s more advisable to write from life or to never write what you know. If I only wrote what

Fluff Fluff: light, downy particles. Substance: physical matter or material. These may be literal definitions of the fluff and substance, but they hold important connotations when it comes to writing well. Fluff is light and of little consequence. Substance holds weight. Fluff is not necessarily particular words or phrases, but can be equated to anything that doesn’t add value to your writing. Substance is everything important. In fiction, it’s the substance that drives the