Blogtalk

Speaking of Goals …

January 9, 2013

ONE of my goals this year is to offer more articles and services of value to you, my readers and friends. Including the possibility of adding a membership feature. But I don’t want to fly blind — I want to know what you want. Please take just a few moments to let me know what [...]

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Happy Holidays and Thank You

December 21, 2012
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As I prepare to gather with my family to celebrate the holidays, I feel immensely grateful for you, my readers and writing friends. Your comments and emails enrich my life in so many ways. And because you take the time to share your thoughts and experiences, I feel part of a community instead of an [...]

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Blogtalk: A Writer’s Attitude

December 5, 2012

We writers spend a lot of time and money learning about writing. We consume innumerable books, magazines, and blog posts. We attend classes and conferences and webinars. But, underneath all this activity, all this reaching to outside resources, we know that the most important method to becoming better writers is simple: practice, practice, practice. Yes, [...]

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Blogtalk: From Journal to Personal Essay

September 21, 2012
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Sheila Bender’s recent series of posts over on The Heart and Craft of Writing blog demonstrate how freewriting can help you get started writing personal essays. Like the journaling prompts I offer here, Sheila’s essay writing prompts ask us to open ourselves to exploration. She explains that writing an essay is, in and of itself, [...]

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BlogTalk: Memoir, Journal Writing, and Story

August 31, 2012
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As I was in the process of developing my new workshop and soon-to-be course, Journaling for Writers, I spent time revisiting all the reasons for journaling that reach beyond the cathartic. Not that there’s anything wrong about writing for catharsis—it’s just that journaling often gets pigeonholed, as if it’s good only for emotional healing and [...]

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BlogTalk: Personal Essay and Memoir–What’s the Difference?

August 24, 2012
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Sharon Lippincott’s recent post, “What’s the Difference Between an Essay and a Story?” brings up an important topic for creative nonfiction writers. I’ve had many discussions (friendly arguments) about the distinction between the two forms. According to Lippincott, Story and Essay are two ends of a spectrum. She says, “We use Story to make sense [...]

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Blogtalk: Writing is Revision is Re-Writing is Craft

August 10, 2012
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Melissa Donovan’s blog post, Writing is Rewriting piqued my interest because I’m a vocal (at least to my students) proponent of revision as an essential part of writing craft. I’m supportive of using multiple strategies depending upon the genre and topic. For example, when writing technical manuals, curriculum, and other fact or procedure-based nonfiction, I’ll [...]

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