We have a Super Power. One that not everyone has. We can use that power to entertain and inform, and also to help heal those around us. Or we can cause hurt. I know that sounds pretty pretentious, but it’s true. We can write positive things, or we can write “other” things. We can understand…
In the midst of widespread debates about the national minimum wage and the ethics of unpaid internships, where does the striving writer feature? I’ve been struggling to define my own boundaries as a professional and a volunteer. An eager artist with plenty (too much?) to say, I tend to shout “yes!” to opportunities first and…
America is a mosaic of special interest groups. Dysfunctional examples are political parties. Coffee klatches and bowling leagues serve as benign instances of voluntary associations. Hobbyists congregate around pastimes such as stamp collecting, photography, and scrapbooking. Then there are detectorists who diligently scan patches of ground with mechanisms designed to signal the presence of metallic…
Two weeks ago I took a workshop through International Thriller Writers from Lisa Unger who was describing her career as an author, including the 20-something books she’s written and I was suddenly struck by the fact that given my age and my career trajectory, there’s no way I will ever write that many books in…
In this part of our series about the jargon of the writing community, we’ll talk about terms that relate to writing or editing your work. You’re likely to hear these phrases from critique group members, beta readers, or your editor. Think of these terms as “good writing advice”. Oxford Comma (aka Serial Comma): A comma…