One of my witty writer friends responded to my newsletter about style by suggesting I write next time about mixed metaphors. And he gave an example from my own piece. Oof! But when I thought about it, I realized his example could demonstrate when mixing a metaphor is OK. It’s a deeper topic than any …
Our world would be better if we honored those applying their genius to humbly help others and paid less attention to the boastful and self-important ones. So here goes. Gretchen Bersch is smart enough to have done anything with her career, but she dedicated most of it to the least prestigious backwater of academia: helping …
Sometimes a coach can offer a single insight that makes all the difference. I discovered this recently on the squash court, and it is also true as a writing coach. That one perceptive observation, one idea, breaks the barrier to improvement. But you still have to pay for the whole hour. For my readers out …
My last piece attracted a lot of attention because it was about physical courage and worthy sacrifice. Now we need moral courage to criticize the government, as legal and social media power are turned against those who oppose the president. Many dissenters feel hopeless and fatalistic or don’t know how or when to act. But …
What is a good man? That question always makes me think of a story I wrote as a newspaper reporter in Alaska in December 1990. My wife and I had just decided to start a family. Here’s the first paragraph: “Carl Stalker died battling a seven-foot polar bear with a pocket knife Saturday, but he didn’t lose …
I’m fascinated by stories of abrupt, drastic life changes. They light up the far corners of what’s possible. That knowledge can be scary or hopeful, depending on how you feel about change. The change Matt Rafferty made would stretch plausibility in fiction, but he did it and he’s still living it decades later. I met …
Bad editing is torment. Office workers know what I am saying. After unclear initial direction, a document goes around and around, everyone making petty and arbitrary changes, and then changes to the changes, and sometimes people make changes to their own previous changes. It only stops with the deadline, when the document is different but …
Yesterday I completed final revisions on two books, both of them projects I started more than five years ago, in 2019. A feeling of vacancy comes with the departure of these constant life presences. After writing many books, this strange stage of creation is a familiar part of the pattern. And understanding the shape of …
I was asked again today how to become a writer—how did I do it? My first piece, a short story, was published in the Southeastern Sun and Salmon Wrapper, a Juneau alternative paper, when I was in third grade. I had only recently learned to write, but I already thought of myself as a writer. …
Adult literacy is dropping in the rich nations of the world. An international study shows that about a third of American adults 16 to 65 have reading, math, and reasoning skills no higher than a third-grade level. Meanwhile, machines expertly assume tasks of writing, math, and problem-solving. Literacy especially concerns writers, because writers need readers, …
