Just for Fun

We all have our daily challenges, and I think most of us have certain things we struggle with over and over. My biggest day-to-day difficulty is the sheer number of things that need to get done. Sometimes the to-do list is so long, I get paralyzed. So I have a sticky note right by my computer. It…

When the humorist James Thurber was writing for New Yorker editor Harold Ross in the 1930s and 1940s, the two men often had very strong words about commas. It is pleasant to picture the scene: two hard-drinking alpha males in trilbies smacking a big desk and barking at each other over the niceties of punctuation.…

A little shout-out to the place I call home… A young writer wanted to write a book about churches around the country. He decided to start with the most-populated states in the U.S., and work his way down from there. At a very large church in California, he began taking photographs and making notes. He spotted a golden…

Cartoon courtesy of “The Napkin Dad” Marty Coleman, Photographer and Artist Visit Napkin Dad Website See Marty Coleman’s photography View Napkin Dad Products

A famous quip from Elmore Leonard. But take note…it’s more than just dry humor! It’s the best advice for good writing. Unnecessary backstory? Character’s long and involved dreams? Excessive description? Leave it out. Cartoon courtesy of “The Napkin Dad” Marty Coleman, Photographer and Artist Visit Napkin Dad Website See Marty Coleman’s photography View Napkin Dad Products

Is this perfect to finish off our week or what? Cartoon courtesy of “The Napkin Dad” Marty Coleman, Photographer and Artist Visit Napkin Dad Website See Marty Coleman’s photography View Napkin Dad Products

Whew, it’s been a grim week here on the blog, hasn’t it? All this talk about difficult conversations between authors and agents. I think it’s time to let you put your own spin on all of this. (And hopefully add some humor to the situation.) So I was thinking we should have a contest. How about…

I’m off to teach at a writers’ conference, so I thought I’d leave you with some inspiration for the weekend. If this whole “getting published” thing doesn’t work out, you could always get a job writing instructions on the packages of commonly used products. Just think, you could be responsible for gems like this! On…

Next to the defeated politician, the writer is the most vocal and inventive griper on earth. He sees hardship and unfairness wherever he looks. His agent doesn’t love him (enough). The blank sheet of paper is an enemy. The publisher is a cheapskate. The critic is a philistine. The public doesn’t understand him. His wife…

I’m taking the rest of the year off. Happy New Year and see you in 2011!

Here we are in the middle of the holidays and with Christmas over, we’re rushing headlong into NEW YEAR’S which for many of us means… resolutions. I’ve always loved the feeling of starting a fresh year and optimistically making a list of things I want to accomplish, so I usually spend quite a bit of…

I just finished reading The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas (or as one of my friends called it, Literary People Behaving Badly). I loved the book! It’s perfect for writers, particularly anyone who’s ever been part of a writers’ critique group. The author gets inside all these different writers’ heads, deconstructing their jealousies and insecurities,…