by admin | Jun 12, 2016 | Craft of Writing
As a career journalist, I had point of view thrashed out of me by professors, editors, and colleagues. “Unless you’re a columnist,” they’d say, “keep your point of view to yourself. Just report who, what, where, when, why, and how. Stick to the facts. Quote notable...
by admin | Oct 24, 2015 | Craft of Writing
When writing teachers, agents, and editors plead with writers to “show don’t tell,” beginning writers have no clue what this means. No writer is born with such knowledge. I had heard “show don’t tell” in workshops and conferences,...
by admin | Sep 2, 2013 | Book Reviews
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book humanizes a lesser-known part of American history in how orphans were shipped by train from New York City to the Midwest in hopes of providing them a better life. What happens often falls short of...
by admin | Sep 2, 2013 | Book Reviews
The Best Man by Kristan Higgins My rating: 4 of 5 stars Higgins captures the wonderful chaos of a young woman’s love life. Faith Holland returns home to upstate New York years after being left at the altar. Her family grows wine and while Faith has been away her...
by admin | Aug 8, 2013 | Craft of Writing
People recognize terrible dialogue when they hear it in movies, or on television or read it in books. It comes off wooden, robotic, confusing, lecturing, boring or in some way artificial sounding. Examples abound in B-grade movies, comic books, soap operas, and...