The one thing all good writers have in common is the ability to tell stories. Stories draw us in. And when we read good stories from a particular author, we want to go back when that author tells more stories. It’s as if a transaction is always occurring just below the surface between author and […]
My friend and coworker started off our premarried class by proclaiming to a room full of optimistic but naïve engaged and dating couples, “MARRIAGE IS HARD, AND YOU’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!” While the chances of death for each of us continues to clock in at a solid 100 percent, all married couples know the […]
What would you say is your first job as a writer? Do you write to serve people? To make money? To express yourself? This is an important question because the wrong answer will lead you to fall short of your best work. That’s what I address in the following slide presentation. In it you’ll discover: What […]
Last summer a friend and I went to an outdoor concert at Frederick Meijer Gardens here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have an amphitheater there, a large stage up front with a leaf-shaped canopy and terraced grass-covered seating for a thousand or more. A lovely venue. The local band was pretty good, but I don’t […]
One morning not too long ago I walked into our kitchen at about 6:30 and was startled by what I saw. There stood my nine-year-old son in his pajamas, hunched over a piece of paper with a pencil in his hand. His nose was less than five inches from what he was drawing, and his […]
As I’ve gone about my travels recently, one book has stood out to me again and again. For one thing the cover is irresistibly head-turning; the promise of the title is also compelling. I’m referring to Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, the #1 New York Times bestseller from respected Wharton business school professor Adam Grant. I […]
So much of winning at the writing game can be summarized succinctly by the immemorial words of Dory in Finding Nemo: Just keep swimming. Easier said than done, for sure. But it’s important because really the only way to lose is to stop writing. To give up. To abandon your dream of that book or that […]
While it’s true a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step, this is also true: If that first step is in the wrong direction, you’ll end up in the wrong place! Like this Air Asia flight, you could end up in Melbourne instead of Malaysia! When it comes to structuring a book, writers can go […]
Nonfiction writers often struggle with aimlessness. They have passion about an area of interest, but when it comes to channeling this passion in a way that will attract readers, they struggle. To read the rest of this article, head over to Medium.
At my local YMCA, the gym where I’m a member, you go one direction to lift weights or use machines. You go the other direction to attend one of the group fitness classes. Earlier this week I decided, for the first time since joining a couple of months ago, to go the group fitness direction. […]
