Writer’s Blog

"Lola, my dear, I'd love to run barefoot through your golden hair." One of the funniest and most ludicrous lines I've ever heard in a movie.  From "Bombshell" (1933) spoken to Jean Harlow (at her best) by a supposed upper-crust poet (Franchot Tone) on a moonlight stroll at a desert dude ranch. I just had to share this. Be smart... Continue Reading

Literary writing often flows with similes and metaphors. Also, not so literary writing. And, of course, poetry. Here is the best simile I’ve yet encountered, and it comes from the pen of a critic, not a “creative” writer: “…tombstones cried out of the earth, like teeth around a scream.” This is from John Leonard upon visiting the Jewish Cemetery in... Continue Reading

Are we in a new era of word coinage? Bill Morris, who publishes on-line at The Millions, thinks so. He offers “fracking,” “illliquid,” and “repurpose” among other coinages. In the following excerpt, “relateable” is a new coinage in the context of a story’s main character. It’s particularly relevant to writers concerned with how readers might respond to an “unsympathetic” (i.e.,... Continue Reading

Lynn Neary (NPR, 1/28/13) recently did a report on the electronic tracking that Amazon, Barnes & Noble and probably others do of our e-reading, not only what we buy, but how we read it. Maybe the first issue is that of privacy. Do we, the purchasers/readers of books, want the sellers and the writers of books to know if we... Continue Reading

In the Ever-Tweakable World of Writing On, If Not For, the Internet... E-publishing Division, Amazon has added another tweak: Kindle Serials, as expounded upon by Porter Anderson (on the great Jane Friedman’s blog). Home base of the discussion seems to be, “If Charles Dickens could serialize his novels, why not 21st Century writers?” And Amazon, as usual, is the provider (or... Continue Reading

ONCE AGAIN, THANKS TO MY NEWSMAN FRIEND TOM COCHRUN FOR SENDING ME THE FOLLOWING LINK TO A RECENT AND ENJOYABLE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ON OLD-TIME NEWSPAPER FILMS, STARRING THE LIKES OF BOGART, BETTE DAVIS, BURT LANCASTER, CARY GRANT, ROSALIND RUSSELL, KIRK DOUGLAS, JIMMY STEWART, JACK WEBB, HOFFMAN/REDFORD, AND EVEN BORIS KARLOFF. (WANT TO KNOW WHY I’M WRITING THIS IN... Continue Reading

Nathan Bransford (author, agent, media manager) asked on his blog: “Which Writers Most Influence Your Work?” It’s a short blog, but generated a great deal of response. It’s worth looking at, if you can get past the Mom and Dad and “My second-grade teacher said…” stuff, although my response slinks a bit toward that. So, here goes: At Oglethorpe University... Continue Reading