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Finally, an Understandable Definition of “Voice” in Nonfiction
Have you ever noticed how writing experts tend to trip and fumble when they try to explain the concept of voice in nonfiction? They may say that voice is that undefinable something that makes your writing your own. It’s the magic on the page that allows readers to recognize you, the speaker of the text,… Read more
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Caroline Kirkland: My Pioneer Sister?
Mudholes complicated travel on the frontier beyond Detroit. In 1836, in a wagon loaded with household goods and six children, Caroline Kirkland and her husband William lumbered toward the tract of land they had purchased on speculation. They planned to make a new home, and hopefully a handsome profit, in the West. They had already… Read more
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Who Would I Encounter in a Psychomanteum?
I sit on a low chair in a small, dimly lit room. A candle burns behind me. In front of me stands a long rectangular mirror. I am seated at an angle to the mirror so that I don’t see my own image. As I’ve been instructed to do, I think about family members who… Read more
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Quicksand
Miss Bell tells me to stand up. She’s the first-grade Sunday school teacher at Tuckahoe Presbyterian. She says she’s sending me to Mrs. Platt’s office. Mrs. Platt is the education director, the closest thing the church has to a school principal. I am six years old, and I am in trouble for lying. Every Sunday,… Read more
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Charting a Writing Path
My daughter Sarah once told me, “You can solve any problem if you make a chart.” I have tested that claim several times. I’ve been testing it lately as I work on an e-book project on the essentials of good writing. What is good writing? How do writers achieve it? I am hoping to offer whatever wisdom… Read more
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Please Don’t Grab Me with Your Hooks
A quick Google search for websites that offer advice to writers reveals a popular adage. Writers must “grab” a reader’s interest with their writing. And they should do so by including a “hook” that captures and holds their reader’s attention. I propose that these concepts of grabbing and hooking are detrimental to the relationship that… Read more
Do you write about yourself and your experiences? Do you write about traumatic events in your life? Or, do you struggle to find time and motivation to write?
If so, this blog is for you.
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Person on the Page 