To write: perchance to edit: ay, there’s the rub; for in editing to death, what epiphanies may come… Okay, so I’m not the Bard. What I am, is sitting in a hotel room editing the night before I give a workshop on research. Maybe what I should be doing is reviewing critique roundtable submissions for…
Category: Blog
The Drive-in Movies
There I was at Sam’s Club on 52nd near Wadsworth yesterday and that’s when the memory surfaced. This is where the drive-in used to be. (One of those places where families, friends and dating couples went to watch movies on a humongous screen while sitting in their car, one speaker hanging on a window.) Ahhhh……
The Critical Importance of Look Alike Words
A word from Conan the Grammarian: Concerning the Critical Importance of look-alike words, or similar or commonly mistaken words. Learn the diffs! As Conan has often admonished writers, this is not advanced rocketry or even higher mathematics. In no particular order, these words often appeared incorrectly in this year’s contest manuscripts. Stanch & staunch The…
FREEZE! SMOKE POLICE!
I’m sure most of you have heard of Writers’ Police Academy, the four day conference offering an exciting and heart-pounding interactive and educational hands-on experience designed to enhance a writers understanding of all aspects of law enforcement, firefighting, EMS, and forensics. If you’re writing anything with a cop in it, I highly recommend the experience….
The Trap of the Magical Negro and why it needs to be Avoided
The Magical Negro is a trope as old as American literature. Originally, the Magical Negro was there to show white readers that African-Americans could be wise, intelligent, and loyal, just like all Americans. It served its purpose for many years and now it needs to be retired. In this article, I will try to explain…