good writing | good writing
Mar.21.2013
Someone once commented to me that the problem with Shakespeare was that he wrote in cliches. I let that pass.
Now we come to Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, and in 2013, it looks like he writes in cliches, too, but of course there are differences.
Shakespeare's...
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Apr.30.2012
What makes a good writer? I was thinking about this today because of my favorite place for breakfast. This place usually serves fluffy omelets loaded with diced ham, baby shrimps, mushrooms, chopped celery, parsley and sweet onions alongside a generous portion of chunky panfries--the kind that's...
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Jan.10.2012
Using the five star system, I would give this anthology three stars, which is a so-so grade for me. There are some fine essays like Pico Iyer's reflection on the need to meditate, cut oneself off from the world, and reflect and Reshma Memon Yaqub's startling and informative account of...
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Nov.11.2011
During Write Nonfiction November (WNFIN), writers must write fast to complete their projects in 30 days. Learning to turn out content quickly is a great skill to have. I know this, since I was trained as a magazine journalist and I now spend much of my time churning out content for my four…...
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Jul.21.2011
Have you ever read reviews or had people recommend books, and then you read them and can't understand what all the fuss is about? What works for one reader might not work for another. And there's nothing wrong with that—that's why there are so many different books!
While I was in Los Angeles...
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Feb.14.2011
I noticed this morning a quote attributed to Martin Amis from the BBC program, Faulks on Fiction: "People ask me if I ever thought of writing a children's book. I say, 'If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children's book,' but otherwise the idea of being conscious of who...
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Nov.14.2010
Any aspiring author who has every written a book proposal—or considered writing a book proposal—has wondered what might set theirs apart from the hundreds that show up on an agent’s or acquisition editor’s desk each day. I’ve heard about all sorts of new tactics used to gain attention; most...
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Nov.11.2010
When I contacted Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the How To Do It Frugally series, to contribute to WNFIN again this year, I expected a post on marketing. I know her for her book The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't. Instead she sent me a post on editing. When I asked...
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Feb.01.2010
The other day I wrote a post about author J.D. Salinger's death for my Jewish Issues Examiner column, but I didn't think too much about what his passing on January 17, 2010, meant to me as a writer. Then, today I happened upon author Mitch Albom's column in the Jewish Word Review. (If you recall, ...
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Jan.21.2010
Opinion has supplanted research. There is no reason to learn the facts if an opinion is as acceptable as the truth. Nowhere is this as obvious as on the internet. Everything here is debatable: news stories, celebrity lifestyles, even encyclopedia entries.
When it comes to good writing, however,...
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