My dear friends and WritingThroughLife readers, I want to wish you happy and warm holidays! I also want to encourage you to take time to write about your holiday experiences and thoughts. To that end, here are a few of my most popular and inspiring holiday writing posts, with plenty […]
THIS IS THE THIRD AND FINAL ARTICLE IN THE READ LIKE WRITER SERIES, in which I discuss Bruce Springsteen’s memoir, Born to Run. Today, I’m exploring how Springsteen structured his memoir and how that might inform our writing. Warning: this discussion of structure contains spoilers and is intended for those […]
MEMOIRS ARE DRIVEN BY THEME. When you begin writing your memoir, it’s because you want to tell a story about a particular aspect of your life. It could be the discovery of a family secret, going through the loss of a loved one, overcoming an abusive childhood or addiction, or […]
THIS IS THE SECOND OF THREE ARTICLES, in which I discuss Bruce Springsteen’s memoir, Born to Run. Today, I’m exploring how Springsteen controls pace, voice, and tone in his writing. Voice and Tone: Springsteen describes the characters in his life I think one of the ways Springsteen’s voice and tone […]
THE 2017 READER SURVEY RESULTS ARE IN, and here’s what you told me. Who you are — No real surprise here. The vast majority (95%) of you who completed the survey are women, age 55+ (82%), are retired or work part-time, and have incomes of less than 100k per year. […]
WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING AND THE WRITING LIFE, every author has a different and unique take on his or her sources of inspiration, what makes for good writing, and what is most important for success. I gain both encouragement and confidence in my own approach when I listen to […]
THIS WEEK, I have the honor of hosting Jerry Jenkins, author of more than 180 books with sales of more than 70 million copies, including the best-selling Left Behind series. Twenty of Jerry’s books have reached The New York Times best-seller list (seven debuting number one). This article was originally posted […]
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR, when I begin planning articles and content for the following year! Please take 3 minutes to complete the following survey and help me provide the most relevant and helpful content for you in 2018. As a thank you for your time and thoughtful feedback, when […]
THIS IS THE FIRST OF THREE ARTICLES, in which I discuss Bruce Springsteen’s memoir, Born to Run. AFTER READING A SERIES OF MEMOIRS WRITTEN BY WOMEN, all filled with wonderfully lyrical and sensory-rich prose, I was struck by the raw, male voice in Springsteen’s memoir, Born to Run. Consider the […]
There is no question about it — journaling changes your life for the better. If you already journal, regularly or irregularly, you know this. You’ve experienced it. You’ll be able to affirm many of the points I make here and perhaps find some additional reasons to continue writing. If you’re […]
Do you write about life, love, the meaning of family, and relationships? Do you include ideas about education or politics or spirituality? All of these topics are abstract concepts that readers understand according to their lived experiences. This means that the concept of “family” will be understood in two completely […]
DO YOU STRUGGLE with writing dialogue? If so, you’re not alone. Writing dialogue that feels natural and moves the story forward has always been a challenge for me. For that reason, I’ve had to study dialogue — what makes it good (effective) and what makes it bad (ineffective). – Before […]
