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, …
Writing projects sometimes start at odd places. I met John Upton in a coffee shop near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City when he started me out guiding journalists to be better science writers. Early in my process of transplanting myself to New Jersey from Alaska, more than five years ago, I …
Shorter sentences aren’t always easier to understand, whatever you may have heard from your composition teacher or writing software. The best writers generate meaning using sentence length as a stylistic tool. I don’t advocate complex sentences for every kind of writing—billboards, shopping lists, and social media posts should be as direct as possible—but simplicity itself …
Some writers I coach need me to be a teacher, mentor, or therapist. Others are just looking for someone to tell them the truth. I might make more money by lying with promises of publishing success. There’s a whole industry of folks who take advantage of hopeful writers. I’d rather be honest and help you …
Over the years I’ve learned and lived a lot of Alaska history. As I look at what’s written, some of what I would say is missing. So I’ve decided to write a history book. On Tuesday I’ll be giving a talk on my ideas via Zoom. The link is at the end of this newsletter. …
We’re not particularly good at talking about our feelings in my family, but we do write books, and after my dad wrote his memoir four years ago, at age 88, I felt I understood his biggest life decision. Thankfully, he had told his story well, as too few authors of family memoirs do. It’s common …
The decline of literary fiction and serious film has contributed, in part, to America’s current social and political division. These art forms once helped glue us together through empathy and mutual comprehension. That’s not just a self-serving writer’s view. It is based on cognitive psychology. About 15 years ago scientists in Toronto established that people …
My son Robin was about five years old when he asked me at bedtime one night, “Is a computer screen a window or a tile?” He was fascinated by our Mac Classic with its little black-and-white screen, which did look like a tile. But his question is relevant to all expressive artists, especially writers. Do …
When I went to the Arctic to write a book about Iñupiaq whalers, my invitation had to go to a vote of the captains of the several dozen crews in Utqiagvik who hunted from skin umiaq boats. If I lost the vote, they would shun me and tell me nothing. If I won, I would …
Young people have more vivid imaginations—there’s neuroscience on that—sharper memories, and quicker access to information. Old people know more—not more facts, but more about the nature of the world. They have lived the stories they tell. Young people care passionately about things that turn out, long after, not to have mattered. Old people have learned …
