Skip to main content

Let Me Be Brief...

I was recently introduced to a website called http://brevitymag.com/.  This website is a collection of nonfiction essays.

If you are anything like me, you find it exceptionally difficult to write "short" things.  (That's why I write novels and not short stories.)  This is a great collection of masters of the brief, but meaningful, writing.  I know I will refer to it frequently as examples of ways to improve my own writing.

As Shakespeare said, "Brevity is the soul of wit."  (I always appreciate the joke that the character who spoke this line is a pompously over-talkative individual.)

Perhaps that is one of the reasons I struggle with creating effective humor in my writing...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

K12 Teaching in 2020

Today I drove home from work with my rock music blasting at higher decibels than, I'm sure, was healthy. But I needed a heavy beat loud enough to feel it vibrate in my chest. I'm not a drinker, but if I were, today would be a three-glasses-of-wine day. And there's no specific reason. Except that I'm only a month into the school year, and I'm already exhausted. And I'm not alone. All you parents out there who are concerned about the style, quality, amount or any other qualifier of education your child is receiving this year, I can guarantee you that an entire team of teachers, administrators, and support staff is just as worried. We're doing our damnedest to meet your (and our!) expectations. Right now, I'm barely keeping my head above the water line. I am the kind of personality who plans things out. I visualize my dive into the deep end, consider all possible complications, and then perform a smooth breaststroke from one side to the next before any of t

Superfriends

This story intentionally follows comic book canon only loosely.                  The doorbell chimed throughout the mansion. A tall, white-haired butler clicked across the tiled floor to the doorway. As he opened the door, a dark-haired man stood in the pouring rain.                 “Welcome, Mr. Kent,” said the butler.                 “Alfred,” the man replied as he handed the butler a pair of glasses. “I’m always glad when I can take those off. Especially toward the end of the day, they really hurt my eyes.”                 “Indeed, sir.” Alfred carefully set the glasses next to a potted plant on the entryway table. “You are the last to arrive. The others are in the den.”                 Mr. Kent strode across the entryway toward a door spilling light into the foyer. As he entered the room, a hexagonal table stood in the middle with five chairs pulled up to it. A man with a firm, square jaw met him at the door with a handshake. He wore a black cape and mask that looked lik

Top Eight Things I *Love* About Writing

http://www.123rf.com/ Why do writers write?  It's certainly not for the money. The major success stories are all we hear about, but they are actually so rare as to be laughable.  So why do writers write? I think the answers are individual for each writer, but similar across many writers.  In honor of Valentine's Day, here are the top eight (8) reasons why I write: 1.      The creative process.   I love when I have a new idea in my head and I get excited about it.  I love to express those stories and put them on the paper for someone else to enjoy. The mental process of figuring out how to make a story work is fascinating and exciting. 2.      The escape.  When I write, I get to create the world and events.  It allows me to be in control of how good (or bad) things are.  It rejuvenates me to face my own reality again.  Writing is one of my outlets of stress relief; I can always make things worse for my character than whatever is going on in my life.  Whether directly