Author and Ghostwriter
You have something to say, dammit! Now, if what you have to say is in the nature of something directed at one particular person, or if it’s something really intimate about your own thoughts, viewpoints, not the kind of thing you want to share with the masses, don’t hesitate to write it down. If you … Read more
It is rather annoying, in my opinion, when people publish personal love letters on their social media pages. Like I have a friend that, every year, publishes a long, lovey-dovey message to her husband on their anniversary. Gross. Publishing that publicly is exactly like saying: “I want the world at large to appreciate my extraordinary … Read more
Do you have one of those friends that are always saying “don’t interrupt me” when you’re having a conversation with them? On your side of things, you’re thinking— conversations are all about interrupting. You say something, I say something, you say something, etc. It’s not supposed to be a diatribe. It’s a conversation! These “don’t … Read more
In a conversation, recently, a friend suggested that Chat GPT was going to replace me pretty soon. I had to laugh. There are some very good reasons why a robot can’t replace me, and I think this is important to talk about for the sake of writers and creative people everywhere. People seem to think … Read more
Over the last little while, I’ve been passively writing. You know what I mean–I’m composing these things, they’re kind of like philosophical essays, in my head, but I don’t write them down because I’m in the fiction/nonfiction business. I’m not Alan Watts, for God’s sakes. Where would I publish such thoughts? And who would care … Read more
I, for once, was on the interviewee side of an interview when I was a guest on the unique podcast Other You by Daniel Moreno. A creative memoir writer in his own right, Moreno’s unusual approach to podcasting is to ask subjects about a certain time in their lives when they made a big decision … Read more
You want to become a great writer. You feel like there’s a story in you, or three. But when you sit down to write, you find feelings, impressions, memories, and numerous disconnected ideas. How do you turn these random thoughts into stories? I’m about to tell you how to do it, so read closely. Stories … Read more
My mother’s nickname in our family was “the dog psychologist,” because whenever our dog behaved strangely she always had some complicated explanation for how it must be feeling based upon the traumas she imagined it had experienced before we got it from the pound. This sounds familiar, right? We love to put people, animals, friends, … Read more
I have a friend that’s a composer. I once asked him, “How do you know how to blend together the violin and the french horn and the kettle drum and all those different instruments?” He looked at me funny and replied, “You go to graduate school.” What he meant by that was: “It’s complicated!” That’s … Read more
I have begun teaching the second wave of classes in my ongoing series. The second wave, which I call “Writers in Action” is an actual critique session, where, in a group setting, I look at student work with a view to how well students are embodying the lessons learned in the free technique classes I … Read more