ALMOST EVERY DAY I get a question from a writer about how to describe something or someone. I work as a writing coach and memoir editor, and I teach many online memoir classes. Every time I'm asked … [Read more...] about How to Write Descriptions That Paint a Vivid Picture For Your Reader
How to Write From the Small Moments of Life
THERE ARE MANY over-used and under-explained phrases in writing instruction. We tell writers to "show, not tell." We tell them to "write what you know," and we tell them that they need to know how to … [Read more...] about How to Write From the Small Moments of Life
How to Write About Marriage? Learn How to Write the Personal Essay
I TEACH ONLINE MEMOIR CLASSES and work as a memoir coach and memoir editor, and in those roles I get a lot of requests for teaching how to write the personal essay. The essay is my favorite medium and … [Read more...] about How to Write About Marriage? Learn How to Write the Personal Essay
How to Use Lists to Write Memoir: In Memoriam to the Best List Writer I’ve Known
SOME TIME AGO, I learned from an expert the exquisite skill of how to use lists to write memoir. It happened one night in a class and no one who witnessed it was unchanged. This was when I still … [Read more...] about How to Use Lists to Write Memoir: In Memoriam to the Best List Writer I’ve Known
How to Write Good Characterization in Memoir? Think Pooh
PEOPLE ARE ALL ABOUT telling you who you are. Well, kind of. These days, revelatory or confessional conversation is all the rage, of course, but much of it is peppered with shortcuts, with even the … [Read more...] about How to Write Good Characterization in Memoir? Think Pooh
What is Holding You Back as a Writer? Clue: Its Not Clutter
Clutter is not what is holding you back as a writer. Neither is it your mother, your father/the nuns/the second-grade teacher who told you writing has no value. Your job is not holding you back, nor … [Read more...] about What is Holding You Back as a Writer? Clue: Its Not Clutter