Today’s post takes off from where we left our Sculpting the Shapley Sentence, Part I. We’re going to look at five more techniques that might be used once you’re closing in on final revisions and really want certain sentences/phrases/sections to stick with your readers. Take a look at these quotes and then we’ll discuss what it is that makes them successful. “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” — Albert Einstein … Read More »

There are sentences, lyrics, or lines of poetry that stay in the mind. How does that happen? Why do we remember lines such as: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton) “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” (Charles Dickens) “I am Sam, Sam I am.” (Dr. Seuss) “The name’s Bond. James Bond.” (Ian Fleming) “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I … Read More »

A couple of months ago I ranted about writers (mostly poets) who insist on cutting out every a, an, and the that can be found in their writing. (Weighing the Weight of Little Words) Today, in honor of April Fool’s Day, I want to stomp some sense into those who foolishly insist on using 4 and 5 syllable words when a single, good ol’ Anglo-Saxon word will do. Some writers are obsessed with finding the bon mot—the good word. And … Read More »

With the proliferation of small presses, more and more chapbooks are coming onto the scene. And if you’ve been wondering how to create a chapbook of your own, I’m here to help. What is a chapbook? But before we dive into how, let’s define what a chapbook is. A chapbook is a small collection, anywhere between 15 and 50 poems, or 3 to 10 short pieces of fiction. It’s usually soft covered and can be stapled (if it’s very short), … Read More »

January is about beginnings—new resolutions, new ideas, and hopefully, new first drafts. While thinking about beginnings, I thought about one of my first writing classes, high school journalism. I don’t remember much from the class except that a good lead should always include the answers to four important questions: the 4 Ws. These are; who, what, where, and when. After a good lead, we were taught the story could move on into the meaty details of how, or why. Good … Read More »

They say it’s the little things that matter. I couldn’t agree more! Recently, I was in an open mic Zoom session in which one of the readers read a poem that excluded every “the” possible, and several other small words like “an” and “a.” These are known as articles. Sometimes this pruning is done in the mistaken belief that to do so will make a piece feel more poem-like. (Though I don’t fully understand this reasoning.) Sometimes, it’s to cut … Read More »