I’m reviewing my library of hundreds of books of writing advice for top recommendations for your library. Here’s my take on essential works, IMHO, for writers. (Full list on a permanent page of this blog.) I’ll tell why I think a particular book makes the top list. Here’s the second (in no particular order) likely… [Read more…]
November 20, 2008
I’ve decided to review my library of hundreds of books of writing advice and put together a list of a small number of top recommendations for your library. I’ll review my favorites and compile a list of the essential works (IMHO) for writers (to be kept on a permanent page of my blog). I’ll tell… [Read more…]
November 18, 2008
At the end of the day, I personally, at this moment in time and with all due respect, want to say something fairly unique. Although it’s absolutely a nightmare to even try, but certainly not rocket science . . . let’s face it, I shouldn’t of started this literary blog for good writing advice, available… [Read more…]
November 10, 2008
In a 2004 interview with Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate (2004-06), on the PBS News Hour, Kooser talked about writing with clarity – so that a piece or passage (in his case, a poem) could be understood by the average person. He recalled how early in his career, when he worked in the insurance business,… [Read more…]
September 14, 2008
News flash! My latest project, The New Writer’s Handbook, Vol. 2, is just hitting the streets. (By “streets,” I mean the polished hardwood shelves of your favorite indie bookstore just around the corner . . . or the mocha-loving halls of big chain booksellers (Barnes & Noble or Borders, for instance) . . . or… [Read more…]
August 21, 2008
Hats off to the U.S. women’s soccer team that just pulled off an amazing 1-0 victory over Brazil to win gold in the Olympics! (And in the heart-stopping extra 30 minutes of overtime, no less.) Somehow, the Americans’ gutsy, swarming defense managed to thwart the powerful Brazilians, led by Marta whose control of the ball… [Read more…]
August 5, 2008
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” What is notable about that famous opening line? Repetition. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch… [Read more…]
June 13, 2008
Without leaving the house I know the whole universe. - Lao Tzu I discovered the secret of the sea in meditation upon the dew drop. – Kahlil Gibran I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars, And the pismire [the ant] is equally perfect, and a grain… [Read more…]
May 6, 2008
Isak Dinesen said, “I write a little everyday, without hope and without despair.” She meant that writing is not a matter of hope or wishful thinking, but of the discipline of doing it. Writing. A little every day. Pen to paper, finger to keyboard. Kelly James-Enger, successful freelancer and author of Six-Figure Freelancing and Ready,… [Read more…]
March 27, 2008
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) According to Britain’s The Guardian: When 25 noted authors were asked in 1987 to name the most crucial influences on their own work, Chekhov was cited by 10 of them, including Eudora Welty, Nadine Gordimer,… [Read more…]
The Writer's Handbook
February 17, 2009
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