Category: blog

Robin had gone to the mall in the vague hope that she would feel like she was doing something entertaining.  She was sick of her life, sick of her job as a claims examiner, sick of her four room apartment on the third floor, sick of TV.  She was even sick of her friends, both the married ones and the single ones.  How had life turned out so

Greta stood in the back doorway that led into the garage.   Alvin sat upright but unconscious in the front seat, his errand forgotten.  He snored slightly.  Greta made sure the garage was closed up tight,  opened the car door on the driver’s side, and turned the key in the ignition.  Alvin never stirred.  Ambien and martinis were such a deadly combination.

Many of us have fathers who are no longer with us.  This can present an unexpected surprise.  His memory ends up best being captured in something he gave us or that we took from his house, in many cases, without realizing that the item in question would become so important in our memory of this important man. I always expected the main remembrance would be evoked by photographs

I like to tell students that they should avoid naming feelings when writing and instead show what the character is doing.  How are they gesturing?  What is their face doing?  How about their hands?  Any props?  What do they say? Let’s see how well we can do this.  Bertha (yes, she’s my other alter-ego; I gave Martha the night off) is FURIOUS.  Why?  You choose the reason.  If

It may have been a while since you were instructed to use strong verbs instead of weak ones, so let’s play with some verbs.  Here is a list of nine verbs.  See if you can put them into a story.  Feel free to use other tenses if needed. Insert Blast Jiggle Maneuver Gulp Wonder Gather Reminisce Struggle

All over the earth there are stones that are considered valuable and powerful.  We all have family members who have birth stones, and it’s worth checking to see what they are–rubies, amethysts, emeralds, opals, garnets, diamonds, peridots, pearls, and so on.  Have any stones inspired you?  Have you ever written a story around a birth stone and a family member?  Tell us!

I’m reading a Stephen King book, and I notice that one thing he does well is coming up with similes that do a great job of helping the reader get the flavor of what he’s describing.  Let’s try some.  I also thought it would be a challenge if we all try the same ones so it will push each of us a bit further to come up with

A big E Macaroni and cheese An annoying limp A woman named Red Hannah

For those of you who were part of the 920 writers group, you’ll be happy to hear that Orlando got in touch under the page called “Creative Writing” here.  I’m sure he’d be happy to hear from some of his old (and hopefully a few new) friends.  Encourage him to hang out here!

I began collecting old grammar books when I wrote the Writing Essentials course.  It was fun.  I found the green one we used in high school circa 1963.  Someone had thrown it in a dumpster.  But one of my favorites is from 1891, called Maxwell’s English Grammar:  Advanced Lessons.  Who wouldn’t like a grammar book that has a chapter called, “The Economy of Attention”? Maxwell begins his preface