There's been a lot of bad news this summer. Drought, unrest, domestic violence, hacking the Cloud, hacking off heads... in the 21st century. We'd hoped we would be better by now. One of the most important things the arts can do is allow us into another person's world. Of course, if you set out to… Continue reading Dignity of the person and the character of characters
Tag: writing tips
Guest Post from Grammarly: Are Style Guides Poisonous to Your Fiction Writing?
This week's guest post comes from Nikolas Baron of Grammarly. Thanks, Nick! When I sit down to learn how writers write -- their styles, preferences, and techniques -- I fluctuate between feeling limited and focused. Most companies have official style guides to help writers communicate in a clear voice with tense, tone, vision, and style. Some… Continue reading Guest Post from Grammarly: Are Style Guides Poisonous to Your Fiction Writing?
Movement & Character, part one
Sunday evening, I had the great pleasure of taking a workshop at Body Chance from Benedikt Negro, lead performer in Cirque du Soleil’s O for the past 11 years. Let that sink in a moment. 11 years, 10 shows a week and no injuries, thanks in part to the Alexander Technique. That's something like 5,000 performances. He… Continue reading Movement & Character, part one
Don’t fall on the idiot side of stupid
In an ongoing conversation about men and women with my friend, Chuck, he remarked that men often fall on the idiot side of stupid where women are concerned, whether it's about seeing what's right in front of them, breaking old patterns or choosing destructive over healthy. Women have their own issues around bad judgment, such… Continue reading Don’t fall on the idiot side of stupid
The Unforgettable Image, Part Four
Here's the next installment from Lee Stoops. Been a crazy week, so apologies for the delay in posting! Building the Case for Changing the Way We Think We need to make sense of our perceptions. Imagination is the core of our human experience. It’s how we build memories and process. I’m not talking about imagination… Continue reading The Unforgettable Image, Part Four
The Unforgettable Image Part Two: The Link Between Imagination and Memory
by guest blogger Lee Stoops: In our generation of images and scenes, we tend to recreate the things that have strongly affected us. I need to note something about cliché here. Something is labeled cliché when it affects (or has affected) a lot of people. The problem with cliché, and why it doesn’t work for unforgettable… Continue reading The Unforgettable Image Part Two: The Link Between Imagination and Memory
so much &*^#$@%( hyperbole!
Want to stand out with your writing? Or in general? Remove hyperbole from your writing and, for that matter, your speech. Have you noticed that people now seem to be incapable of speaking without it? We've become gushers of adjectives, adverbs, and expletives. A touch of hyperbole can strengthen a scene, but if it's not… Continue reading so much &*^#$@%( hyperbole!
the sin in writing
I've been following the Manti Te'o debacle for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that am a Notre Dame football fan and though not an alum, part of the ND family and have friends who are professors there. The truth will out, if not soon, then eventually. That's usually what happens… Continue reading the sin in writing
in the mood…
Part of the writing life is managing your moods. You've heard that if you wait for inspiration to strike in order to write, well.... Yeah, that novel doesn't write itself. Do you catch yourself indulging in any of these three behaviors? They're all part of the same thing with different time references: Self pity -… Continue reading in the mood…
5 ways to help authors; 5 things for authors to avoid
Several times this past year, I had people ask how they could help me with my books. The first question I asked was whether they'd bought any of them. No. Well, there's a start! You want to help an author, buy their books. Forget all the fancy posts on book marketing… Continue reading 5 ways to help authors; 5 things for authors to avoid
Diane Sherlock 
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