I’ve been asked about my New Year’s Resolution. I generally never give this a decent thought until someone else brings it up (similar to my reactions to questions like, “Are you ready for Christmas?” or “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”). I’ve always sort of scoffed at the molded system: a calendar devised by people […]
Creative Writing, Made by Hand
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While in the midst of your creative writing, you might find that you’re feeling a little less than ingenious. The screen is blank…or riddled with repetitive, stale concepts. You’re beginning to find yourself growing rigid and pecky, not unlike the machine you use to compose prose that should be fluid and picturesque. I’d like to […]
What is a Ghostwriter?
What is a ghostwriter? I don’t broach the subject of my vocation unless I’m prompted, but when that happens, this question often follows. If those specific words don’t interject themselves into the conversation, a blank stare or a change of subject usually ensues. Most writers have felt this antipathy, but the best ones don’t work […]
Your Short Story: Getting There or Getting Where?
Before you start writing your short story, ask yourself, “How does it end?” Sound strange? Imagine this: You gather your belongings, lock the house, get in the car, start the engine, and…tap the steering wheel with your thumbs, contemplating the fact that you have no place to go. Why would you have gotten into the car […]
Cliche: Plagiarism out on Parole?
Writers create. We struggle to dream what hasn’t yet been dreamed; to fashion something with our brains that is strange and wonderful and utterly fantastic to the senses. It must have never before existed until it was conceived of our minds; birthed by our hands. All that sounds terribly romantic. But occasionally, even the best writer […]
I’m Like, Running out of, Like, Room on the, Like, Page
Is it the new um? It is a sad side effect of the classic valley girl mockery, “Like, O my God,” in annoying So Cal upspeak? Is it a reason to beat the 60s pulp out of Shaggy? Last Sunday, my husband, my son, and I attended a human sexuality conference for seventh graders. They spoke out against womanizing, […]
Truman Capote: Journalistic Sinner or Novelistic Saint?
In 1966, Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood was published. This creative account of Kansas’ 1959 Clutter murders instilled fear; it raised hackles — and even though it trampled on ethics and our basic comprehension of truth, it would tear open the earth and drop the seed for what we know today as creative non-fiction. […]
Hiring a Ghostwriter Who Boils for You
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When hiring a ghostwriter, professionals and would-be authors can easily be disillusioned by ghostwriting job requirements. One would think that an English degree, impeccable grammar, and speed are of the utmost importance in the ghostwriting process. One would think. But sometimes, as in the case of the grammatical faux pas I’ve just committed, some cold-and-hard rules […]
Show Don’t Tell: an Excuse to Stare and Eavesdrop
Your creative writing teacher said, “Show Don’t Tell.” All the advice you’ve read on honing your fiction repeated, “Show Don’t Tell.” And just when you thought you couldn’t stand another piece of advice that you’re helpless to employ, a blog writer writes, “Show Don’t Tell.” I know, I know. What does Show Don’t Tell even mean? […]
Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmatic: Good Grades for Ghostwriting
Remember grammar school? Most of the material was pretty basic, but I’m guessing you can easily pinpoint the subject that caused you the most angst. For me, it was geography. I found myself amused that The United States resembled a decapitated Thanksgiving turkey lying on its side, but ask me what was inside its borders […]
The Creative Ghostwriter 