Sometimes writing is easy, when you feel deeply impassioned about a subject and know just how to say it. The words flow.  I think it was Truman Capote who said something like:  “I’ve always been able to throw words up in the air and have them come down in the right order.” Sometimes we can do that, too. When you’ve emptied the passion bucket, maybe all you have to do is tweak a sentence or two, choose a better word … Read More »

Writing with a partner author can offer some great benefits, if you’re both willing to set aside your egos and truly cooperate. My first two published books were done with a co-author.  They would not have happened without my partner.  Nor would they have happened without me. My co-author was vice president for education for Florida Audubon Society, and I was on contract as editor of the Florida Audubon magazine. When I suggested we include something for young people in … Read More »

Much of my writing is about Florida’s natural world – its waters, birds, trees, even clouds. When my first book, The Young Naturalist’s Guide to Florida, was accepted, the editor sent every chapter to a different expert in that subject, and on one expert’s advice, the editor asked me to rewrite a short paragraph.  She read it to me over the phone. I thought a moment and changed the wording to incorporate the correction, to which the editor replied, “That’s … Read More »

I’m a grammar bully. I don’t mean to be a bully, but when it comes to wrong usage, I am. At least for some of them. If I walk into a restaurant with a chalkboard that has misspelled or misused items on it, I can’t help myself. Sometimes all I have to do is wipe my finger across a misplaced apostrophe. If there’s a way, I’ll fix it. Lie/Lay One bit of grammar in particular is used incorrectly over and … Read More »

Have you ever given a talk or presentation of any kind to a group of people? If you know your subject well, you probably present your topic in a conversational way, as though you were telling it to your family. A bit of enthusiasm, a bit of humor if appropriate, maybe a truncated sentence or two, or maybe one beginning with “And now … “ or “Okay, folks …” If you’re a fiction writer, the people in your story might … Read More »

Sometimes writing is easy, when you feel deeply impassioned about something and know just how to say it. The words flow.  I think it was Truman Capote who said something like “I’ve always been able to throw words up in the air and have them come down in the right order.” Sometimes we can do that, too. When you’ve emptied the passion bucket, maybe all you have to do is tweak a sentence or two, choose a better word here … Read More »