There is a particular comfort that comes from being certain. We can shut out the world, with all of its noise and confusion. And we rest in the assurance that we are right. Except that certainty …
Blog
Writing the Reluctant Protagonist
“My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.”- Ernest Hemingway Allow the Protagonist to Feel Reluctance No one likes change. The unknown is scary. The …
Finding Home
“Home is where one starts from.” - T. S. Eliot There’s nothing more primal than our quest for home. The dilemma is that our childhood homes may have been confusing, chaotic, or even violent. …
Humor Is Not About Writing Funny
Humor connects us. It makes us care. I don’t mean one-liners. Humor is not about jokes, but it is about human behavior. It’s a vital aspect of any story, adding depth, richness, and humanity. Drama …
Why We Go on Retreat
For years, my students had been asking me when I was going to take them on a retreat. Frankly, I'd been on creative retreats, and while I enjoyed the camaraderie, I was never a big fan of …
Memoir: Mastering the Impossible
“While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.” - Helen Keller The purpose of art is to illuminate the possibility for transformation. The goal of memoir is to make the …
What is Success?
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates Years ago, I was on the phone with a prospective student, and he announced, “I will consider myself a failure if my book does not become a …
Tell Your Truth
"A book must start somewhere. One brave letter must volunteer to go first, laying itself on the line in an act of faith, from which a word takes heart and follows, drawing a sentence into …
Taking Off the Mask
“The smiles of the unhappiest are often the widest.” - Mokokoma Mokhonoana In Jerry Stahl’s memoir, Permanent Midnight, he shares his story of being a successful television writer by day and going …
The Writer’s Place
"Where did that come from?" I believe there is something we writers are collectively seeking. We are all attempting to convey an experience, a true moment, to tell a story that somehow reveals more …