writing

Like Shaking Hands With God – Lee Stringer and Kurt Vonnegut Talk About Writing

Like Shaking Hands With God: A Conversation About Writing is, unsurprisingly, a conversation about writing. But hold on! The two people chatting it up are none other that Kurt Vonnegut, for whom my adoration knows no bounds, and Lee Stringer, for whom my awareness was exactly zero before picking up this book. Based on what [...]

January 11, 2012 READ MORE →

Just In Case You’ve Never Gotten A Rejection Letter From The New York Times

If you want to write outside the cozy walls of your blog, it is quite helpful to have thick skin. My own skin feels like crocodile hide. Touch it at your peril. So, let’s talk rejection. This is an email I received from the New York Times recently after four or five weeks of waiting: [...]

March 7, 2011 READ MORE →

How To Be More Creative Part 3: Questions of Consistency

This is part 3 in a series. Read Part 1 and Part 2. You can’t do very much reading about creativity without bumping into Leonardo Da Vinci. In the last month I’ve read a couple of books about him, and what I didn’t know was unsurprisingly profound, although I had thought I knew the broad [...]

July 27, 2010 READ MORE →

Have You Ever Wanted To Write A Book?

You have probably known someone who has said “I want to write a book.” Or “I should write a book.” Or “I could have written that!” Perhaps you’ve ever said these things yourself. I have. The difference between me and a lot of people is that, for better or worse, I have written a book. [...]

July 22, 2010 READ MORE →

How To Be More Creative Part 2 – Good Confusion

In part 1 of How To Be More Creative, we discussed problems with sameness, distractions, and the creative perils of being a passive spectator too often. Today I want to talk briefly about the best friend my own creativity has ever had: confusion. But first: The negative meaning(s) of confusion Confusion is rarely a pleasant [...]

July 9, 2010 READ MORE →

Why Do We Tell Stories?

During a recent visit to my parent’s house in Denver, I opened a chest that contained a whole bunch of my elementary school work, a lot of little league trophies, and some drawings of pigs wearing glasses. But best of all was the first short story I ever wrote. The story occupies the bottom half [...]

June 25, 2010 READ MORE →

5 Easy Ways To Improve Your Writing

1. Don’t use two words when one will do. I love words, and I’m often guilty of running on and on at the mouth (and on the blog). Sometimes more words works better if you’re trying to make things flow or if it’s a stylistic device. But when you’re trying to convey a point or [...]

June 9, 2010 READ MORE →

Book Review: If You Want To Write

By Joel Frielander If You Want to Write was originally published in 1938, and revised in a second edition in 1983. And even though this book is over 70 years old, I want to say up front that I think it’s the best short book on writing that I’ve ever read. In fact, I defy [...]

April 10, 2010 READ MORE →

Please Help My Youngest Fan Overcome His Writer’s Block!

All right, so if you didn’t know, I used to be afraid of sharks. Then I received a book in the mail, the greatest book of all time.  Then I wasn’t scared anymore, thanks to my friend and youngest fan, Ethan. I made him promise that he would write another book. I was so grateful [...]

February 24, 2010 READ MORE →

Book Review: On Writing

This is a guest post from Tatiana Lensky.  I think most books about writing are a waste of time that could be better spent, well…writing.  If you are a writer or a wannabe, Stephen King’s book On Writing is a wonderful exception.  Josh By Tatiana Lensky Emotional truthfulness that transcends time and trends: Stephen King [...]

December 19, 2009 READ MORE →