[Note: I know Diana Raab only through our online connection, and have no relationship with the book’s publisher.] Even though my creative writing and journaling students hint that I browbeat them, I’ve never told them to buy a book. As a rabid supporter of libraries, I typically urge people to … [Read more...] about Writers: BUY . . . THIS . . . BOOK
Creative Writing Tips
Who Cares If You Write?
I’ve got a quotation over my desk by the novelist Louis Auchincloss. In large font, it reminds me daily, hourly that, “A man can spend his whole existence never learning the simple lesson that he has only one life and that if he fails to do what he wants with it, nobody else really cares.” I've … [Read more...] about Who Cares If You Write?
Be Brave Enough to Write Badly
You might think that the greats – whose books are on bestseller lists, or at the top of book prize lists—just sit down and write perfect or even acceptable manuscripts. Wrong. Like the rest of us, they write crummy first, and often second, third, and fourth drafts. Many admit that each time they … [Read more...] about Be Brave Enough to Write Badly
Writers: Afraid of Your Idols? Guest Post by E. Victoria Flynn
Victoria Flynn's particular slant on writers, writing, and life has riveted me since I first read her blog, V's Place: An artists' cafe. Her open and questioning approach never fails to engage me. I commented on one of her posts, No Man's Land, and I was thrilled when she asked me (or allowed me?) … [Read more...] about Writers: Afraid of Your Idols? Guest Post by E. Victoria Flynn
Usage: Just Plain Wrong?
The Sunday afternoon I heard a public radio reporter say Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, “self-designed” his fiancée’s wedding ring, I decided language mutilation had hit a new low. What’s wrong with “designed?” Why self-designed? Is it because he’s so rich and famous we need it impressed on … [Read more...] about Usage: Just Plain Wrong?
Clichés Bugging You? Me, too.
I used to think of journalists as the leaders, rather than the lemmings, of our language. Well, maybe I was thinking of print journalists, New Yorker writers, who don’t go in for clichés as broadcast journalists too often do. They (and the self-aggrandizing pundits who appear on their shows) seem to … [Read more...] about Clichés Bugging You? Me, too.
Book Review: Women Writing on Family
Interest in genealogy, family history, and memoir* is so intense these days it’s about time a book to guide writers working in these genres became available. Women Writing on Family: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing, an anthology edited by Carol Smallwood and Suzann Holland, is that book. … [Read more...] about Book Review: Women Writing on Family
They Came for the Cookies
For some of the creative writing classes I teach—thankfully, not all—I'm paid according to the number of students who enroll. Each student pays a very modest amount, so a small class means small remuneration for me. After recently teaching six students at an arts center, I screwed up my courage and … [Read more...] about They Came for the Cookies
How Do You Feel About Writing Contests?
A bit of controversy exists about whether or not it’s beneficial for writers to enter their work in writing contests. Some feel that contests are a waste of time and money, contending that publishers aren’t impressed by a writer winning a contest. And they’re not very happy that most contests … [Read more...] about How Do You Feel About Writing Contests?