Spring 2026 Newsletter
This is an excerpt from Laura’s quarterly newsletter, “Some Type of Magic.”
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Hello, fellow writers and readers.
Do you remember what it was like to be a child? You had an inner life—thoughts, daydreams, things you wondered about, emotions that you didn’t always share with adults.
While I don’t recall my exact thoughts, I do have emotional impressions of my early years: the pride and love that washed over me when I introduced my second grade classmates to my newborn brother; making a nest out of a gigantic pile of autumn leaves and feeling as if no one could see me but the sky.
The inner life of my teen years is easier for me to call back because I was keeping a regular journal by then.
Easier, but frustrating! I recently went looking for entries about my last trip to my English grandparents’ home when I was 15. I was hoping to find descriptions that detailed the people I loved and the house that looms so large in my memory. What I found was pages of writing about how much I missed my boyfriend. Sigh. As disappointing as those entries are to me now, they are true to how I was feeling as a high school sophomore.
The inner life is important in fiction too, from picture books through adult novels. I re-read Jane Austen’s Persuasion this week. So much of the story’s tension is rooted in protagonist Anne Elliott being unable to reveal to anyone (not her friends, her sisters, or her mentor) what she feels and thinks—especially about dashing Captain Wentworth. Only the reader is privy to Anne’s true hopes and desires. Only the reader knows how much pain it causes her to keep those feelings hidden from her family, from society, and especially from Captain Wentworth.
Why is my own interior being so focused on interiority right now? Lots of reasons! First, my current MFA students are all working on verse novels, a form that highlights, even favors, the emotional arc of its narrator. Second, I have two upcoming virtual classes for writers and both have to do with—you guessed it—interiority.
The Deciding Factor: Creating Character Driven Scenes
WIFYR (Writing & Illustrating for Young Readers), June 15-19, 2026
Feeling It! Creating Emotional Depth in Your Novel
Co-taught with Karen Krossing
Whale Rock Writing Workshops, Wednesdays September 16 - October 7, 2026
I hope you can join me for one of these courses! You’ll find the full descriptions below.
This issue, as always, includes:
A mini craft essay for your writer’s toolbox.
A classroom-friendly writing prompt, a book review, or a blog feature.
News and upcoming classes.
Let’s get inspired!
