I’ve taught Creative Writing and English at the university level for nearly a decade. I share tips, tricks, and strategies to get yourself out of literary hot water, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been writing for a while. Everything I share here is what I’ve taught in classrooms, and what actually works. You may want to get a creative writing degree, but you don’t need one to be a successful writer. Sometimes, you just need a few things explained to you with some guidance that goes beyond feeling your way through.

Let’s cut through the tortured artist bullshit and talk about how writing actually works. Here’s how to use this site:

Articles: This is where you’ll find help for your writing, the writing process, and where I break down writing components like plot and character. I focus on craft in order to show you what makes great writing appear seamless, and how you can borrow the same strategies and techniques for your own work.

Selected Writing: Is a selection of some of my published work.

Free Course: A free mini course called The Secret to Writing Kick Ass Prose. No smoke up your ass, just shit that works. It includes a worksheet with three tried and true strategies that will bring your work to life, how to use them, and before and after examples so you can see it in action.

Professional bio:

Kelly Chastain holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Her work has appeared in The Burrow Press Review, San Joaquin Review, Gravel Magazine among others. She has work anthologized in Traveler’s Tales Best Travel Writing Volume 10, and a notable essay in Best American Essays 2015. Currently, she is working on a historical novel and a memoir.