What’s the most important quality in a writer? Joyce Carol Oates has a surprising opinion. The most important writerly quality, she says, is not the ability to develop characters or structure plots. It’s not the presence of voice or the ear for flowing prose. It’s energy. But maybe that’s not a surprising opinion after all…. Read more »
What do you think you haven’t been told about the sometimes called “What-if” stories? Assuming you’ve read the last four segments of Worldly Wise (Welcome Back, BTW!), you already know the basics… or perhaps you already know more. However, if you’re here for the first time, hello there! Welcome to Worldly Wise, where we work… Read more »
Over the years I’ve struggled to establish a regular writing routine. I was constantly adjusting my schedule to accommodate school, internships, and a variety of part-time jobs. But even once I settled into a full-time job with a steady schedule, my writing routine still faltered. I tried to squeeze time into lunch breaks and scheduled… Read more »
However ambitious your literary dreams, achieving them relies on an essential step, one that is solely within your control. You must write. You must do so consistently. Establishing a disciplined writing practice is the most important thing you can do and this post will help you do just that. Landing on a bestseller list, earning… Read more »
Are you struggling to form a writing habit? Do you find yourself saying “I should be writing regularly” but never doing anything about it? You know what? That kind of resistance is totally normal. Resistance invades the artistic process at every level. In fact, resistance is so pervasive that Steven Pressfield wrote a book about… Read more »
Each January, I watch the world celebrate “Should.” We begin the month obsessed with our “shoulds.” I should lose weight. I should write my book. I should clean my house more. Maybe that last one is just me? It can’t be! Encouraged by the world, we take all of our “shoulds” and turn them into… Read more »
The end of the year is filled with stockpiles of sweets, long lines at the grocery store, and a constant reminder that the clock is ticking on your goals—like where you wanted to be with your manuscript. Even if you’ve boycotted the holidays like Chandler Bing with his Thanksgiving grilled cheese and Frank Costanza with… Read more »
I’m a writer. Not an author, mind you. A writer. And I have the life of a writer. This distinction was never more apparent until October 2018, when I overheard some colleagues in the English department office of the high school where I teach, talking about an article one of them had published in a… Read more »
[Author’s note: This is the first article in my new column series about humor writing called “What’s So Funny”. It addresses the so-called how-to’s, different approaches to humor writing, funny people who inspire me, and so on.] Some people are intimidated by writing humor. They think they just aren’t funny enough. And while it isn’t… Read more »
Have you ever thought about how many marks you’ve made on paper in your lifetime? Starting as a doodling toddler, scribbling on your parents’ utility bills perhaps, then gripping a crayon in Kindergarten to draw a house and a tree, or to write your name for the first time. Later, you made a few grocery… Read more »
