by Amelia Loken | Aug 29, 2026 | Writing Craft
Learning the Language of Story When I first read Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder, I was about a year or two into writing my first novel. Like many aspiring writers, I had spent most of my life consuming stories without fully understanding how they worked. I didn’t...
by Amelia Loken | Aug 21, 2026 | Writing Craft
Innocence or Ignorance? Early in my writing journey, nearly eighteen years ago, I didn’t have a road map. I had a story I loved, a stack of library books, and the kind of earnest determination that makes you believe you can figure out anything if you squint hard...
by Amelia Loken | Jul 26, 2026 | Writing Craft
There’s a familiar pattern in stories about disabled characters — one we’ve all seen, whether in classic literature, modern YA, or blockbuster films. Think of Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, whose disability exists mostly to inspire generosity. Or Beth in Little Women,...
by Amelia Loken | Jul 18, 2026 | Disability Models
When you’re just starting out with photography, you don’t automatically know how a wide‑angle lens stretches space or how a telephoto lens pulls distant mountains close. You’re experimenting—pointing the camera, clicking the shutter, discovering what happens. And it’s...
by Amelia Loken | Jul 10, 2026 | Writing
Some weeks, writing feels like trying to light a match in a windstorm. Even if you get a spark, it’s extinguished before you can feel its warmth or transfer it to the waiting kindling. It can feel like an exercise in futility. Why even bother? But what happens, then?...
