I don’t like the idea of joining my voice to the uproar of conflicting, often half-baked opinions of another million writers coming to grips with the emergence of ChatGPT (partly because, try as I might, my thoughts would probably be the most unbaked ones of them all). But a few things happened in my interactions…
Write Stuck
Sometimes the words come easy. Sometimes they don’t. That’s not an excuse to stop writing. Athletes don’t just play when the sun is shining, when their body is in perfect condition, when they feel like playing, and when they’re at the top of their game. They play because they must. They play even when the…
Vividness, Brevity, and Specificity
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ― Anton Chekhov There is a somewhat overused and underapplied (or as is often the case, misapplied) phrase in writing that speaks to vividness: “Show, don’t tell.” Simply telling the reader who did what how, when, why, and where…
The Perfect Writing Place
Somewhere there’s a room with bay windows; brilliant sunlight streams in through satin curtains. A glorious vista–trees and mountains and streams–lies just beyond it. There’s an ancient bookshelf filled with well-loved books; walls tastefully decorated with pictures and quotes; piles of books and magazines beside the typewriter on the polished oak desk. Perhaps there’s even…
A Solitary Activity
Writing is, by very nature, a solitary activity. We may be writing with others within the same room, or even collaborating on a project with other writers; but when we put the pen to paper or our fingers to the keyboard, we are alone. Completely and horribly alone with our thoughts, our emotions, the empty…
Distilled Thought
I like to think of writing as a form of distilled thought. The act of writing forces us to organize and present the impressions and ideas within our minds into something more tangible than simply “thoughts.” Words by its very nature, being symbols human beings attach meaning to and communicate with, restrict the “fogginess” that…