Writing
Write Your Heart Out: The Craft of the Personal Essay (January 2021)
[vc_column_inner width="1/6"][vc_column_inner width="2/3"][vc_column_inner width="1/6"]Uncover the powerful stories from your life and learn how to share…
Remembering Tom Wolfe, the master of the long sentence
Greeted this morning by the news of the death of Tom Wolfe — a founding…
Yes, Virginia, it is okay for a writer to play with the form
Editor's note: This story was first published on Dec. 25, 2014. It's premise is especially…
Why it worked: A rhetorical analysis of Obama’s speech on race
The National Conference of Teachers of English (NCTE) has declared today a National Day on…
7 ideas for writing blog posts
Even the best writers struggle from time to time in generating story ideas. This can…
How to trim wordiness in your writing
Writers often use more words than they need. While wordiness or redundancy is not “wrong” in…
4 ‘breath test’ questions to diagnose your story leads
The first words of any story are critical. With that precious beginning, you offer your…
7 ways to avoid jargon in your writing
Anyone who has tried to read a legal document or a technical manual understands how…
9 ways to end your stories
There are endless ways to end stories, but few hard and fast rules. Yet every…
2 types of leads that get right to the news
Whether you're reporting news or telling a story, you know you have to entice your…
How to avoid clichés in your writing
Roy Peter Clark writes, "Clichés can multiply and take over your story like text-eating bacteria."…
6 tips for writing broadcast stories
Great stories hang in the viewer’s ear and catch the viewer’s eye. Here are some…
How to turn your notebook into a camera
Good writers use their notebooks as they would a camera. They change their distance from…
