What a communications workshop can teach you about writing

What a communications workshop can teach you about writing

Feb 6, 2012 | Craft

If you’ve had communications training, it won’t surprise you that there are similarities between public speaking and writing. At a recent meeting of  Toastmasters, Louvain Chalmers, who has gobs of experience training and coaching public speakers and...
Friday’s Itty Bitties — #10

Friday’s Itty Bitties — #10

Jan 27, 2012 | Craft, Itty Bitties | 2 comments

Have you figured out yet that I’m a Yogi Berra fan? Here’s another statement some have attributed to him: “In theory, theory and practice are the same thing. In practice, they’re not.” In theory, a person ought to be able to take a few...

What happens when P.D. James comes to Pemberley?

Jan 2, 2012 | Writers | 4 comments

I will have to read Death Comes to Pemberley to find out. P.D. James’ latest novel, set six years after the marriage of Jane Austen’s characters Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy, was not on my reading list. Partly because it doesn’t star Adam...
Friday’s Itty Bitties — #6

Friday’s Itty Bitties — #6

Dec 23, 2011 | Itty Bitties

It’s Friday and two days before Christmas. I was thinking about appropriate gifts for writers. In Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, a classic is said to be a book which people praise and don’t read. If that’s so, then here’s my...

Eight Reasons to Consider Pursuing an MFA

Dec 13, 2011 | Craft | 3 comments

Okay, in advance, I confess. I have an MFA. You may detect a bit of bias in favour of MFAs in what follows.  So be it. Here are some reasons to consider pursuing an MFA: Learn the craft I’m sure the content and philosophy of MFA programs varies immensely....