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In this six-part series, we’re shooting for the stars by adding some great stuff into our writing. Shoot for the Stars Tip #1: Use Passive Voice … Occasionally Shoot for the Stars Tip #2: Make Dialogue Count Shoot for the Stars Tip #3: Be a Straight Shooter Shoot for the Stars Tip #4: Write for … Read More
In this six-part series, we’re shooting for the stars by adding some great stuff into our writing. Shoot for the Stars Tip #1: Use Passive Voice … Occasionally Shoot for the Stars Tip #2: Make Dialogue Count Shoot for the Stars Tip #3: Be a Straight Shooter And now … Shoot for the Stars Tip … Read More
In this six-part series, we’re shooting for the stars by adding some great stuff into our writing. Shoot for the Stars Tip #1: Use Passive Voice … Occasionally Shoot for the Stars Tip #2: Make Dialogue Count And now … Shoot for the Stars Tip #3: Be a Straight Shooter When you add tension to … Read More
Writing is hard work. It is often exhilirating, but it can be exhausting, too—both physically and mentally. Sometimes we get tired or burned out, and it’s tempting to cut corners. But don’t. That mindset is not going to get you to your best writing. When you feel yourself leaning toward taking the easy way out, … Read More
Last week, I wrote about the 1950 film All About Eve and how much I love the way its ending mirrors its beginning. The screenplay for All About Eve is based on a short story, “The Wisdom of Eve,” written by American author Mary Orr (1910-2006). In fact, a lot of great films are based … Read More
In her poetry collection Call Us What We Carry, poet Amanda Gorman writes, “Change is made of choices, and choices are made of character.” Gorman is a writer and is the youngest inaugural poet in US history. But she wasn’t referring to the craft of writing when she wrote this. She was writing about the … Read More
I once attended a lecture by Rob Roberge, the author of the memoir Liar, novels including The Cost of Living, and the short story collection Working Backwards from the Worst Moment of My Life. Actually, I’ve attended many a lecture by Rob Roberge. The man knows his stuff. But during this particular lecture, Roberge said … Read More
In honor of National Poetry Month, I’d like to share a poem with you, writers. For copyright reasons, I can’t reprint it here, but it’s published in full on the Poetry Foundation website. It’s called “For the young who want to,” and it’s about being an artist. It was written by novelist, poet, and memoirist … Read More
This year, if I’m honest, I had trouble drumming up much enthusiasm for goal setting—writing or otherwise. I’m generally a goal-setting fanatic, so this was unusual for me. I was excited about setting goals last year. I did a whole, five-part series on goal setting in December 2021. You can find it here. Then I … Read More
I had a lightbulb moment the other day—I realized that I picked up some of my bad writing habits from classic literature, and I realized these bad habits aren’t necessarily bad but bad for the time. One of my worst writing habits, which I often see in my clients’ writing, is improper balance or proportion. … Read More