WHEN LEARNING THE CRAFT OF WRITING — which, as far as I am concerned, is a never-ending state of being — we often hear the refrain that we should “show, not tell.” “Showing” means writing in scene, using physical actions, sense-based details, and dialogue to create the story, rather than explaining […]
A CLOSE READING of any book helps us to understand how an author’s word choice and sentence structure affect the tone and pace of the work. For this examination of Beryl Markham’s *West With the Night, I decided, (rather arbitrarily) to use excerpts from Chapter V, “He Was a Good […]
FIRST IMPRESSIONS – *West With the Night, by Beryl Markham Though this memoir is considered a classic, I had never heard of it or of Beryl Markham before a Writing Through Life survey respondent suggested it. I was immediately intrigued by the idea of a woman who, raised in Kenya during […]
IN ADDITION TO WRITING AND TEACHING about journaling and memoir writing, I enjoy visiting other journaling and memoir writing sites for additional inspiration, new approaches, and different perspectives on writing about and through life. What I have discovered in doing so, is that there are really very few blogs out […]
THIS POST is a bit of a departure from my usual, because I’d like to get your opinion about a future article series. As you know, since early 2015, in addition to articles on journaling, memoir writing, and general writing craft, I’ve been posting a series titled Word for Writers. I […]
THIS IS NOT what I had planned to blog about this week, nor had I planned to be out of town for the weekend without my laptop, which I usually drag with me if I’m going to be away from home overnight. So, the release of Scrivener for iOS this week […]
If you’ve wondered why Writing Through Life has been unusually quiet this last month, it’s been because I’ve been working hard to finalize and get the new website up and running. And today, I’m proud to present the new WritingThroughLife.com site, fully mobile-responsive, and with a new look and feel. If you’re receiving […]
I’M DELIGHTED to welcome Nathan Ohren, a fellow journal writing teacher and promoter of mindful living, to the Writing Through Life blog. I “met” Nathan online a couple of years ago through his JournalTalk podcast. We’ve stayed in touch and continue to share ideas with each other around ways to help others […]
TODAY’S POST is an interview with Margaret Holland & Delana Reese, co-authors of Ms. Holland’s memoir, The Brotherhood of Silence. According to the description on the back cover, The Brotherhood of Silence “gives voice to the recollections of a woman who suffers debilitating injuries in an accident and then faces working […]
WHENEVER I mention to my writer friends that I enjoy reading both electronic and paper books and, moreover, that I find myself turning more frequently to my e-reader, they inevitably wrinkle their noses and — with the tone of an upper-crust British aristocrat speaking to a country peasant — say, “Oh, […]
Website You may notice a few little changes on the website this week. After four years of a fairly static visual presence I’ve streamlined the menu and sidebars and updated the banner to reflect the direction I’m heading with WritingThroughLife.com. I’m also in the process of testing several new responsive […]
My heart is filled with gratitude for you, my dear friends and readers — for your feedback and encouragement and the comments and insights you have shared with me over the last few years. May we continue our journey together in peace. Sincerely, Amber Lea Starfire _________________________________
