Pencil, from the Latin penicillus, meaning "little tail." Little tail? Not everyone writes even occasionally with the old fashioned yellow pencil with pink …
A Hemingway Story that Started 100 Years Ago Today
On this day 100 years ago, 18-year-old Ernest Hemingway (yes, that guy) was distributing chocolate and cigarettes to soldiers at the Italian front when a shell …
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5 Quotes from Philip Roth on Reading, Writing, and Life
I was saddened to hear the news last night that Philip Roth has died. Here are a few of the wisdoms I learned from reading his books: On reading: "Everybody …
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Words of Wisdom from Martha Gellhorn
Last year I started an effort to share a quote a day, each from a woman writer I admired. Let's just say it was a rough year, and life intervened as it …
Steinbeck on Struggling with a Scene
Another bit of great writing advice from John Steinbeck: …
John Steinbeck Support for NANOWRIMO
This won't be an all-Steinbeck-all-the-time month, but I did find another bit of useful advice in that The Paris Review piece--especially apt for cranking out …
Advice from Steinbeck to Kick Off NANOWRIMO
Today is the first day of NANOWRIMO, wherein some crazy folks try to write an entire novel draft in a month. I confess that is faster that I can write (and …
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Writing Advice from Ernest Hemingway on the Anniversary of For Whom the Bell Tolls
Today marks the anniversary of the publication in 1940 of my personal favorite Hemingway novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Coincidentally, tomorrow marks the …
5 Quotes from Toni Morrison
Nobel- and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison's novels include The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Beloved, and A Mercy. I've lately been reading her …
Caution: Writing While Parenting
My guest today, Anne Michaud, is a veteran political journalist who writes a regular Newsday op-ed column, has won more than twenty-five writing and reporting …
