Jul 24, 2024 | On Writing
In the beginning, pen and paper were touted as the writer’s best friend. With the advent of the typewriter, writers took up writing by machine, and in the wake of computers, many authors—and the public at large—abandoned handwriting altogether. Typing has replaced...
Apr 17, 2024 | On Writing
“There’s always the next book.” Louise DeSalvo That’s what Louise DeSalvo says. DeSalvo is the author of The Art of Slow Writing, which I purchased as a kind of hair shirt and read as a kind of guilty pleasure. As a mystery writer expected to turn out a book a year,...
Nov 22, 2023 | On Writing
Persistence counts. In the film A Million Miles Away, Jose Hernandez’s teacher tells the migrant workers’ kid who dreams of being an astronaut that “persistence is your superpower.” (If you haven’t seen this film, based on Hernandez’s real-life story, do. It’s a...
Oct 18, 2023 | On Writing
scene: a sequence of continuous action in a play, movie, opera, or book. One of the biggest mistakes I see in beginning writers’ work is the failure to dramatize. The dreaded telling, rather than showing. Writing in scenes helps you make sure that something is...
Sep 20, 2023 | On Writing
Can you really teach someone to write? That’s the question that has been debated since the first aspiring writer asked a successful author to show them how to tell a good story. Indeed, teaching and writing often go hand in hand. Many famous authors have supported...
