Books… Friday Flick: Book Pusher 11 Feb 201113 Feb 2011 Nancy Pearl is my new book pusher. Every library and every writer needs a Nancy. This inspires me to check out all 1,800 of her favorite picks. It might take…
Academic Writing… Why Do I Have to Take this Class Anyway? 10 Feb 201112 Feb 2011 I haven't studied math since high school. I excelled in it. I took all four years of accelerated classes, keeping college majoring options open. Then I tested out of college…
Academic Writing… New Messages on Texting 7 Feb 20118 Feb 2011 Could texting be good for literacy? Some early and brief studies are suggesting that it might not hurt as much as you fear. Students who spell well in general can…
Creativity… Did I Miss Anything? 5 Feb 20114 Feb 2011 When Billy Collins was the United States Poet Laureate, he encouraged schools to read a poem a day: no analysis, no writing assignments, only the pure nourishment of experiencing a…
Academic Writing… I Am Woman; Call Me She 27 Jan 201127 Jan 2011 Since Facebook already knows whether you are male or female, and even distinguishes between your "Cousin (male)" and "Cousin (female)," a distinction the English language doesn’t make, then why can't…
Blogging… Why Post Daily? 24 Jan 201121 Jan 2011 If you journal only sporadically, or monthly, or weekly, you're tempted to be significant or profound--or silent. I'd been at that for years when I heard a Sunday School teacher…
Change the World… Friday Flick: Working or Receiving? 21 Jan 201127 Jan 2011 Are you too busy working at writing to receive the work? Here's what a number of writers have to say about their experiences. It's "The Writing Spirit" from AuthorMagazine.org. (This…
Academic Writing… “I Have a Dream” for Writers 17 Jan 20119 Feb 2011 Today you'll probably hear the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And it will probably begin, "I have a dream!" I recently shared his entire speech from the March…
Change the World… Paradoxes of Writing 15 Jan 201115 Jan 2011 Novelist Jennifer Hubbard says, "Sometimes the writing desk is a solace, an escape from tedium or pain in daily life. "Sometimes writing is a celebration. Sometimes it's a way to…
Books… “The Power of Receiving” 10 Jan 201116 Mar 2011 "Doesn’t it make sense that if you want something—whether to meet the love of your life, get a great job or increase your financial stability—you need to know how to…
Business Communications… Dinnertime “Stop, Drop, and Roll” 5 Jan 20115 Jan 2011 No, it wasn't a kitchen fire. One of my favorite comedians—though he’s clearly an elementary school boy—was checked by his much older brother with “Stop, Drop [the topic], and Roll”—to…
Collaboration… Not a Poem a Day 1 Jan 20116 Jan 2011 “It isn’t every day that the world arranges itself into a poem.” — Wallace Stevens Wally must have been as disappointed about that as I am. Maybe every day a…