Abstract coastal atmosphere, dark navy

Writing from somewhere along the coast

Essays on craft, short fiction, and notes on reading and paying attention. By V. Harlow.

Recent posts

On Revision: Why the Second Draft is the Real First Draft Mar 2026
The Tools I Used to Write in 2025 Dec 2025
What I Read in 2025 Dec 2025
Three Years of Morning Pages: What I Actually Learned Oct 2025

Fiction & essays

The Tide Table

A retired hydrographer receives a letter from someone who shouldn't be alive.

Negative Space

On what gets left out of a story — and why that omission does most of the work.