Columns

Read Across America to Celebrate Literacy and Dr. Seuss

March 2nd, 2020

I will read all through Montana I will read across Alaska I will read in New York City I will read in Mississippi I will read way down in Texas And throughout the state of Kansas I will read from California All the way to North Dakota I will read tucked up in Main And from the sea down through the plains I will read out in the mountains Then find my way back to Wisconsin I will read in the middle of the country Now will everybody join me?

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EMMA. is a Charming, Self-Aware Adaptation of Jane Austen's Work

February 28th, 2020

As I walked down a New York City street toward the Angelika Film Center & Cafe in the cold of winter, my friend and I chatted about our expectations for EMMA., the new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, directed by Autumn de Wilde and starring Anya Taylor-Joy. “It’s definitely trying to do something,” we concluded. “It’s got a vibe.” We just couldn’t figure out what that something was, and more importantly, whether we would like it.

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How Late Nights Are Killing You and Your Writing

February 27th, 2020

Writers love the romance of an all-nighter. Oh, we’re so into our coffee and our quiet and our manic hammering away deep into the night. Like most romantic things (showering together in a one-person tub shower, making out in a vehicle, dance in general), the all-nighter is a lot better in concept than it is in reality. It might be hurting you more than you think. Not Me! Let’s knock this out right away: Most folks will say some version of, “I only need about six hours to function.”

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The Zen of Morning Pages

February 26th, 2020

Original images via Pexels I’ve lost count how long I’ve been writing Morning Pages. I think I started in 2009, but maybe it was 2010. Either way, I’ve been writing a few pages every day for around a decade now.

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15 Traps That Could Hurt Your Writing Goals

February 24th, 2020

Original photo by Skitterphoto It’s that time of year when we fail at all our goals!

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Storyville: The Duality of Strong Emotions

February 21st, 2020

So, I’ve talked about this before, but I want to dig deeper. What we’re talking about today is the duality of strong emotions. How can we use them to create conflict, atmosphere, and a powerful resolution? Let’s talk about that. It starts with love and hate. So I want you to think about something or someone that you love. There are many kinds of love, in case you didn’t know that. The Greeks mention several:

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"P.S. I Still Love You" is All About Love and Heartbreak, in the Cutest Way

February 20th, 2020

Spoiler alerts for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: P.S. I Still Love You and its predecessor below Netflix gave the world of rom-com lovers the perfect Valentine’s Day gift when they released To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: P.S. I Still Love You two days before the holiday. I watched it on V-Day itself, curling up with a bag of popcorn and my laptop after waiting two agonizing days to start one of my most highly-anticipated movies of 2020.

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Bob Seger's "Night Moves": A Short Lesson on Repetition

February 19th, 2020

If you don’t know the song...what am I saying, you know the song. What you don’t know is that it’s a great writing lesson that even YOU can understand, you dopey bastard. Allow me to explain. The Basics “Night Moves” starts out as an average classic rock song. Describe some Midwest-y characters, a little bit about the decade, that sort of thing. It was the song that moved Bob Seger from “local boy done good” to international rock star.

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What Is A "Mary Sue" Character and Do They Actually Exist In Fiction?

February 18th, 2020

In a recent Twitter conversation, someone referred to a woman in a work of fiction as a "Mary Sue" (the less said about the conversation overall, the better). I had not encountered this term before, and upon looking it up, my immediate reaction was to dismiss it as wholly sexist and non-existent, a trope that isn't actually applicable to most forms of fiction (novels, plays, television, film, etc.), but is recklessly hurled at those mediums regardless. 

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What My Tattoo Artist Taught Me About Writing Critique

February 17th, 2020

Photos via the author I recently put in some time in the chair with my favorite tattoo artist. This sounds like I have a lot of tattoos; I don’t. I have three, one of which is a little gray sun on my neck that I picked right off the board one random day when I was nineteen with fifty bucks in my pocket. I found this artist much the same way I found my sweet little sun—I drove around for a while with an idea and some cash until I got to a tattoo parlor with some cool designs in the window. You know, real scientific. 

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