Sheila Bender (born 1948) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

, best known for her popular books on writing instruction. She hosts a show on

KPTZ KPTZ (91.9 FM) is a non-commercial, educational radio station. KPTZ is on the air 24 hours a day with locally produced programming filled by music automation. KPTZ will broadcast a mix of locally originated programming featuring area people, ar ...

Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition to ...

. Her poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in anthologies, newspapers, and

literary magazines A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters ...

around North America, including ''The Bellingham Review'', ''Northwest Passage'', ''Poetry Northwest'', ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'', and the'' Women's Studies Quarterly''. She lives and works in Port Townsend.

Education

Bender graduated from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

with a degree in English and earned an MAT in Secondary Education from Keane College and an MA in

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Works

Bender's many books on writing include ''Creative Writing DeMystified, Writing and Publishing Personal Essays, Writing in a New Convertible with the Top Down, Keeping a Journal You Love, A Year in the Life: Journaling for Self-Discovery, The Writer's Journal: Forty Writer's and Their Journals'', and ''Perfect Phrases for College Application Essays''. Her

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

, ''A New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief'', chronicles how reading and writing poetry helped her cope after the loss of her 25-year-old son and find a way to live with love in the spirit of her son. Her newest collection of poems, entitled ''Behind Us the Way Grows Wider'', appeared in 2012. She has devoted most of her career to the teaching of writing and the improvement of writing instruction. In addition to her dozen books on writing, she has written instructional and feature articles for ''

Writer's Digest ''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles. History ''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 under ...

'' magazine and ''

The Writer ''The Writer'' is a magazine for writers, published monthly by Madavor Media. History ''The Writer'' was first established by William H. Hills and Robert Luce, two ''Boston Globe'' reporters, as "a monthly magazine to interest and help all lit ...

'' magazine. She founded WritingItReal.com, where she provides an online instructional magazine for those who write from personal experience and offers individual as well as online group writing instruction. Bender provided the prompts to the innovative journaling software ''LifeJournal'' with Chronicles Software, which helps writers not only generate interesting journal content, but organize and retrieve their ideas. She is also a regular instructor, panelist, and presenter at writing and educational conferences, including at Centrum Foundation in

, and many locations where annual Writing It Real conferences have been held, such as Port Townsend;

Oracle, Arizona Oracle is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. The population was 3,686 at the 2010 Census, falling to 3,051 at the 2020 Census. Buffalo Bill Cody owned the High Jinks Gold Mine in Oracle briefly and, in 191 ...

;

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

; and

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey. Bender is known for her three-step response method that helps authors receive response from trusted listeners, which empowers authors' efforts at revision rather than have them feel their work is being "critiqued" or "torn apart," as the root of that word implies. Authors, she believes, can improve their writing and best fix their drafts after they have heard 1) the words and phrases that stick in the listeners'/readers' ears, 2a) the feelings listeners/readers have after hearing/reading a piece that they feel are in keeping with what the author attempted, 2b) the feelings that are in the way of fully appreciating the work such as places of confusion and feeling left out, and 3) curiosities, where the audience wishes to know.

Publications

Books on writing

*''Writing in a New Convertible with the Top Down: A Unique Guide for Writers'' (with Christi Killien), 1992. *''The Writer's Journal'', 1996. *''The Writer's Journal: 40 Contemporary Writer's and Their Journals'', 1997. *''Writing Personal Poetry: Creating Poems from Your Life Experiences'', 1999. *''A Year in the Life: Journaling for Self-Discovery'', 2000. *''Keeping a Journal You Love'', 2001. *''Writing Personal Essays: How to Shape Your Life Experiences for the Page'', 2002. *''Writing and Publishing Your Essays'', 2003. *''Writing and Publishing Personal Essays'', 2005. *''Perfect Phrases for College Application Essays'', 2008. *''Creative Writing DeMystified'', 2010

Memoir

*''A New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief'' 2009.

Poetry

*' 'Since Then: Poems and Short Prose,'' 2022. *' 'Behind Us the Way Grows Wider,'' 2013 *''Sustenance: New and Selected Poems'', 1999. *''Love from the Coastal Route: Poems'', 1991. *''Near the Light'', 1983.

Anthologies

*''Boomer Girls'', 1999 *''We Used to Be Wives'', 2002 *''Washington State Poets Association Anthology'', 2004 *''Women Writing on Family'', 2011 *''Women on Poetry'', 2012

Software

*''LifeJournal for Writers'' with Chronicles Software

References

External links

*
Biography ProfileInstructional articlesLifeJournal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bender, Sheila 1945 births Poets from Virginia American memoirists American women memoirists University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Writers from Port Townsend, Washington Living people American women poets 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets American women essayists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists Poets from Washington (state) Writers from Richmond, Virginia