Writers all start off as readers. The way written words transform into a story that seems visual as we read, that shows us that we aren’t alone in our thoughts, that makes us react both physically and emotionally, draws us into the writing life. But as writers, we hear conflicting advice regarding the very medium we seek to master. Read every day vs. Don’t read while you’re writing The thought process behind “read every day” is that reading as a … Read More »

The image of the peddler with the stacks of hats in Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina seems to ring true for me these days. I’m not selling hats, but I am wearing a lot of them (figuratively speaking). They’re not colored, like the peddler’s checked, gray, brown, blue, and red. I guess they could be, but these hats represent the roles I fill at any given time as a writer. The stack started with my writer’s hat. My naïve, … Read More »

Do you yearn for a better way to organize your writing projects? Do you have a big one to manage, such as a novel or memoir? Does publishing your work seem like an impossible dream? Let me share a method that helped me. A few years ago, while I was writing my memoir, a friend told me about a little book, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan. The book includes … Read More »

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, suggests that practice is more meaningful than underlying talent. He theorizes that it takes about 10,000 hours of doing something—deliberately, not casually—to become good at it. Other thinkers have since attacked that idea, but in general outline it certainly makes sense. The more time I spend playing a game or baking pies, the more opportunity I have to find out for myself what is the best way to do it. When it comes to … Read More »

Success. One of the most frequent subjects of books, workshops, presentations, and blogs. As an educator, I am often reading articles and research on success for insights, approaches, and strategies that I can bring into the classroom to ultimately help my students become successful. I also admit to being a bit of a self-serving junkie. I hope these insights will help me with my roles outside the classroom as well- my life as a writer, speaker, and presenter. I love … Read More »

The name of Marjory Stoneman Douglas entered the news this year with the tragic loss of seventeen lives in a South Florida high school, so this is a good time to remember her for arguably the most important book ever written by a Floridian. The Everglades: River of Grass (1947) almost singlehandedly launched the modern conservation movement in America. A sample: Clouds and the smoke of fires stand far off and are sunk in it, like the smoke of ships … Read More »