"Reading is the creative center of a writer's life." — Stephen King
October 23, 2015
I spent most of the last decade in the company of people who are passionate about the art and science of teaching. It was wonderful. Looking back, one of the ideas that still resonates with me came from Parker J. Palmer’s The Courage to Teach. … Read More
October 15, 2015
What makes a light novel, such as this one, satisfying? Texture, I think, can have a lot to do with it. While the plot is thin — The Queen of England decides to leave the palace for a day — the author incorporates photos from actual events, … Read More
October 8, 2015
Zbigniew Herbert was 15 when Germany invaded Poland. It’s hard to imagine what it was like to grow up in the resistance. He became one of the most respected poets of Poland, and had a tremendous influence on younger writers. He advised them to detach themselves … Read More
October 1, 2015
Negotiations often start with the question “What do you want?” The more important question, according to the authors of this classic book on negotiation theory, is “Why do you want that?” Understanding the interests that determine the positions is critical when searching for a wise solution. It … Read More
September 24, 2015
Bad writing has many symptoms, but only one primary cause, according to John R. Trimble, University Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus at UT-Austin. The problem comes from the writer’s failure to be guided by the needs of the reader. Many novice writers, he notes, don’t understand the … Read More
September 22, 2015
William Zinsser, author of Writing About Your Life, continues, “Only small pieces of a life make an interesting memoir.” Rather than attempting to write about important periods of history, “be content to tell your small portion of a larger story.” (16) Choose to write about … Read More
September 15, 2015
Writing about loneliness is surely one of those tricks that should come with the warning “Do not attempt this at home.” Often, descriptions of loneliness trigger disengagement. It takes a master, such as Marilynne Robinson, to write a novel about loneliness that’s a page-turner. In an interview… Read More
September 6, 2015
One of the first lessons that new teachers learn is that it’s impossible to predict how well a workshop, lecture or discussion will work. Teaching is situational. What works well in one class might not work in another. That’s why Stephen D. Brookfield, one of the … Read More
August 28, 2015
Much has been written about Atticus’s moral compromises in Go Set a Watchman, which might remove him from the list of “Best Dads in American Literature.” However, what I find more remarkable is Scout’s courage to reject the views of the men she loves most and to … Read More
August 21, 2015
This is the last line from the poem “Vocation” by one of my favorite poets, William Stafford. He was an advocate of the process of discovery. In Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series, he writes, “A writer is not so much someone who has something to say as he … Read More
August 13, 2015
The power of this final sharp sentence in the essay “The Santa Ana” by Joan Didion comes, in part, from the preceding sentence’s beautiful set-up: “Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse, and just as the reliably long and bitter winters of New England … Read More
August 6, 2015
This metaphor is simple, and yet it packs a punch. It’s from the poem “The Town Where I Belong” in Faith Shearin‘s new collection Telling the Bees. Part of its power comes from the way three of the five senses are used in these few … Read More
July 31, 2015
Arranging everything in chronological order in memoirs can be, well, boring. The challenge is finding an alternative structural method that doesn’t bewilder readers. The author of this memoir takes a bold approach: she gives us many tiny stories/reflections/anecdotes as stand-alone chapters, and she lets us draw our … Read More
July 24, 2015
The wonderful thing about 600-page sagas is, in my view, the opportunity to develop a wide perspective. Readers get to see the consequences of decisions as they play out over the span of decades. Sometimes characters come to see things differently, and sometimes readers do, too. Moments … Read More
July 16, 2015
With this first sentence, I was hooked on this collection of stand-up routines and one-liners by BBC writer Fraser McAlpine. With an addiction to Downton Abbey, a life-long love of the Beatles, strong memories of Princess Diana, and a daughter named Anna who lives in England, … Read More