Storytelling is part art, part science. The art is most of it—say seventy-five percent—and the rest, science. We need both to be successful. The science part reminds us of criteria to meet and elements to include if we’re to draw and keep readers. The rest is more
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This week’s edition of the Monday quote is more of an excerpt from Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, by Benjamin Dreyer. Copy chief of Random House, Dreyer is an authority on all things style. His manual is charming, entertaining, and worthy of
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Sometimes, the best thing you can do for a story is to cut. It’s most easily done during revisions. First, get your story on the page. Later, as you edit, look for parts to strike. Doing this can make your story stronger. It’s especially true if you’ve
Read more →This week’s edition of the Friday Fact isn’t about writing. It’s about the next-best thing: chocolate. Europe is home to some of the best chocolate. My husband, born and raised in France, argues that his native country beats all. For Christmas I bought him a copy of
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This week I’m revising a piece I wrote more than a year ago. Some passages seem less clear to me than they did on my last round of edits. This is true of everything I write. My words can always be more clear. As the French writer
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Today I’m launching my first installation of Friday Fun Facts. It’s a concept my son’s fifth-grade teacher uses. At the end of each week, she offers each student a chance to share one remarkable fact. This activity captivates children and adults. My first fact hails from Jim
Read more →Author Jerry Jenkins speaks often about the two ways most writers approach the page: with or without a plan. Those without a plan are called “pantsers”—as in, they fly by the seat of their pants. Or, as Stephen King has said, “Try to put interesting characters in
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As a new decade takes shape, a new-and-better website will take shape here. My brilliant husband—a software architect by day, magician by night—is helping me re-imagine my online presence (I’m loathe to use this phrase, but as the experts say, even the literary world must adapt). Though
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My paternal grandmother was a young girl when she and her parents fled war-torn Greece for the United States. Beleaguered by the constant fighting between the Greeks and the Turks, they had seen family and friends slaughtered. America promised safety and shelter. My great-grandfather, Gus, landed in
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Today is my Uncle Dave’s birthday. He would be seventy-four. My mom’s younger brother died earlier this month, after battling complications from a single lung transplant. He takes with him a vast trove of memories and shared stories only he could retell, many of my mom. She
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