Writing Tips
-
What to Do When Your Writing Stalls
It happens to me regularly. Maybe it happens to you, too. I’m writing something, and I think the work is going well. Then, after a while, I’m struck by the feeling that what I’m writing is dull and unoriginal, and that it lacks energy. Or I realize that what I’m writing is not the message Continue reading
-
Five Qualities of Good Writing
What distinguishes effective writing from writing that somehow misses the mark? What about our writing invites readers into our message and keeps them reading to the end? Based on my years as a writing instructor, writer, and reader, here are what I have found to be some of the qualities of good writing. 1. Surprise Continue reading
-
Telephonophobia (An Experiment in Memoir)
My thanks to Bear River Review, in which this essay was published. The sound I heard that morning was from one of those Bell telephones, still in common use in the 1970s, with a rotary dial and an actual bell with a mechanical clapper. It jangled its urgent ding-a-ling-a-ling, demanding attention. I sometimes recall one Continue reading
-
How to Gain Your Reader’s Empathy: The Case of a Partial Jewish Identity
As a memoirist or personal essay writer, one of your goals may be to elicit empathy from your readers. Perhaps you want readers to understand your perspective on an experience. Or you hope that readers will sympathize with you as the teller of your story. In other words, you may want readers to put themselves Continue reading
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.
Person on the Page 