Sue Fliess, children’s book author and California dreamer sang a wonderful parody of Anna Kendrick’s Cups (When I’m Gone), with lyrics that all writers can appreciate.
Read More
Instructors sometimes tell us that without conflict, we have no story. While that’s true, it’s important to understand why. A sword fight has plenty of action and conflict, but it…
Read More
In 1955, a McDonald’s hamburger cost fifteen cents, and for a dime, you could add fries. That was before anybody thought of supersizing. In 1970, a dozen eggs cost .62,…
Read More
OK is an abbreviation. Years ago, the proper spelling was O.K., but we’re now so much in love with acronyms that we’ve dropped the periods from many abbreviations, including this…
Read More
If a salesman knocked on your door, selling punctuation, you should know that semicolons are next to useless, not worth the cost. Would you buy periods because they are in…
Read More
“Truth is stranger than fiction.” This quote has been attributed to many great writers, so it might be good to stop and consider what this means. With fiction we can…
Read More
Frank Ball used to collect stamps, coins, and rocks. Now he’s a collector of words with unexpected meanings, which he calls “daffynitions.” Here are five that were posted recently: Association…
Read More
Some writers tell their stories with mostly narrative. Others tell their stories with mostly dialogue. Neither approach is sufficient to show the picture and give readers the experience of being…
Read More
In 2012, The Piano Guys album was ranked number one on the Billboard New Age Albums and Classical Album charts in 2012. Their YouTube channel has millions of subscribers. It…
Read More
Writing instructors often stress the importance of reading the genre you want to write. The more you read, the more you’ll absorb the approach and style that will make you…
Read More