Monthly Archives: May 2016
271 Words
No greater example of efficiency and elegance in the English language exists than Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. At 271 words it takes only a minute to read and only slightly longer to speak. We cannot hope to be as gifted a wordsmith … Continue reading
Posted in Writing tips
Tagged 271 words, creative nonfiction, Gettysburg Address, writing course
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Does Word Processing Make us Better Writers?
I’m near completing a 3,000 word article. The stats are staggering. 172 revisions? To make clear, 172 is the number of times a file was saved. There could be many, many edits done in between saves. I may have made 500 individual … Continue reading
Posted in Thoughts on writing
Tagged efficiency, statistics, word docs, word documents, word processing, writing faster
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Lemons Into Lemonade
Last month I went out of town to research a field trip article for Rock&Gem magazine that I am writing on speculation. (internal link) My visit was to a BLM mineral collecting site some hours north of Las Vegas. Here’s the problem: … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged field trip, lemons into lemonade, Rock&Gem Magazine, travel writing
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Creative Writing Course Continues
Our Creative Nonfiction Workshop continues (internal link). This is the second week. The emphasis is on the personal essay; we are doing a great deal of writing on ourselves. I would never entertain such a topic outside of a class. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged art class, creative nonfiction, creative writing, extension course, pen and ink
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My Creative Nonfiction Course Began Today
The Berkeley extension course I wrote about before (internal link) started today. It’s a writing course devoted to nonfiction. I think I’m going to like it. The interface used to assign work, provide grades, communicate with the teacher and so … Continue reading
Rocky Mountain Radicals
My brother Bill has an article this issue in the prestigious Montana: The Magazine of Western History. (external link) Entitled Rocky Mountain Radicals, it traces the story of our family’s distant Uncle James Murray, a copper king who made his … Continue reading
Understanding
Don’t underestimate the time it takes to understand something. This is the key, hidden problem for non-fiction writers. Let’s say you’re writing a story on how locks work. You may have five books on locks, current periodicals, and an interview … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged non -fiction articles, non-fiction, research and writing, understanding
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