By Jilian Whitehead Valentine’s Day is here! And that means . . . yep, it’s time to talk about love. Romance is one of the most written on topic in all forms of writing—that also makes it one of the hardest. While it may be a cliché topic, people will also never tire of it. […]

Co-hosts Caitlin Dillon and Heather Daugherty discuss the angst that every writer feels. Featured is the short story “The Gate” by Hannah Warrick from our 2019 issue. Mariah Smith is our featured English major.
By: Nikki Groom A common misconception when it comes to writing is you have to be a natural at it. In reality, that’s not the case at all. Like any career, it can be learned. It takes practice, like cosmetology. The more you practice, the better you become. You can be a good writer […]

Our favorite co-hosts Zoey Reynolds and Caitlin Dillon are back to discuss a few of their favorite things. Today on the Mochila Chat we talk about dreams and how dreams can influence writing. We hear DeAndre Washington’s poem “Smile for your hood” from our Spring 2018 issue. We also hear Helen Hunt Jackson‘s “Dreams” read […]
By Megan Standley Anger seems to be the only emotion that anyone feels nowadays. Whether it be from politics or a bad day. Anger, of course, can be a really good outlet for bottled up stress and bad thoughts, but it’s not as acceptable as emotions like sadness. So, say you need to have […]

Our favorite co-hosts Zoey Reynolds and Caitlin Dillon are back to discuss a few of their favorite things. Today on The Mochila Chat we talk about how to show empathy for another person when the writer does not know anything about the other person’s backstory and how a writer can make the readers feel the […]
By Megan Standley It’s time to go ahead and get that one emotion that no one wants to feel out of the way. That emotion is sadness. Everyone feels this emotion at some point in their lives and it isn’t something they want sticking around for long (unless you love to be sad). Even […]
By Megan Standley Emotions are key to any good story and poem and there are many ways to incorporate emotions into any type of writing. This blog will cover the emotion of happiness, how it affects the outcome of your writing, and how it can create a connection between you, your character, and especially the […]
By Megan Standley As we bring this wonderful tale of why music helps writing to a close, I’d like to spend at least this blog to mention more songs from other genres. You wouldn’t expect these songs to help with writing, but they actually do! I’d also like to just talk about how great […]
By: Megan Standley Some songs aren’t just perfect to listen to while you write – they can also help you shake that icky writer’s block. In this blog I’ll list some of the artists that get me out of my writer’s block and the ones that I listen to when I write. Music […]