Roy has taught writing at every level--to school children and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors--for more than 30 years, and has spoken about the writer's craft on The Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR and Today; at conferences from Singapore to Brazil; and at news organizations from The New York Times to the Sowetan in South Africa. He is the author of "Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer," the book and the blog.
You thought you learned them in grade school. You know, the parts of speech, those eight basic elements of making meaning. But here’s a little secret: Those seemingly demure parts of speech are, in practice, naughty cross-dressers.
In his book,… Read more
Not long ago, I had the opportunity to introduce Tom Brokaw to a group gathered at The Poynter Institute for a community conversation about politics and the news business. I have thought of him as one of the most… Read more
Let me begin by expressing my biases: Newt Gingrich would make a bad president. And I don’t want him anywhere near my three daughters, especially if his current wife takes ill.
That said, I am on his side in
Go to any bookstore these days and you find all the writing advice you could use in a lifetime. OK, sure, a lot of it is coming from me. I used to believe that, when it came to writing tips,… Read more
I have made seven writing resolutions for 2012. I may not fulfill them, but that’s OK. For me to be most productive, I need to set some trajectories for my writing, including some that imagine what things look like beyond… Read more
I’ve been reading a lot of Christopher Hitchens lately — and not just in anticipation of his death. As a writer and a public scholar, Hitchens scared me. I tried to imagine what would happen if I had the… Read more
In this week’s writing chat, we talked with Grammar Girl, aka Mignon Fogarty, about the creative connections between writing and grammar. Topics included:
If you have ever tried to translate a passage from one language into another, you know how challenging the task can be. A word in Italian or Danish, for example, may look very much like an English cognate, but mean… Read more
Because I am a “clever” writer, it is easy for me to fall into the biggest trap in journalism: To write with words rather than information. Another way of putting it: If there is nothing great in your notebook, there… Read more
Ever find yourself getting distracted when you’re supposed to be writing? I’ve been having this problem a lot lately. I have a deadline in May for a book manuscript, and I’m not making my usual progress.
For most of my… Read more