Go easy on the ing words. Why? Too many ing words weakens your text. I don't mean nouns like spelling, inkling, sibling, and so forth. This issue occurs when you add ing to too many verbs—singing, walking, talking, hopping. There’s nothing wrong with an occasional ing verb form, but when it’s overused, it deadens your…
Svetlana Alexievich
Oral historian and Belarusian author, Svetlana Alexievich, was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize for literature, an amazing feat on many levels. She is the first from her country and only the fourteenth woman to win the coveted prize since 1901, but what I find most exciting is the acknowledgement of her work,…
We're still a week or so away from the day-long Vivify Your Writing workshop but act before October 31st and reserve your place at the writing table for a discounted price.
For just $60—that's $15 off the full price—spend seven hours in the company of people you'll enjoy, relish the beautiful surroundings of Lake Fairview and…
Ordinary Heroes - Voices of History Project
If you write stories that tell about the real side of war, and I know many of you do, I have a pertinent opportunity for you. A colleague of mine at JoHazel Publishing is working to document “stories of wartime life and its aftereffects either experienced or shared from…
I’m reading about the makings of one of modern fiction’s most prolific writers, Joyce Carol Oates. Oates has written more than fifty-six novels, thirty collections of short stories, eight volumes of poetry, too many essays and book reviews to count, and many long nonfiction works all while teaching at Princeton for thirty-five years.
With those many…
Mark your calendars for an upcoming, not-to-be-missed event! Thursday, November 5, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, join Levar Burton at the Warden Arena to hear his talk, The Power of Storytelling: Written, Spoken, Lived.
Levar Burton has quite a life story to tell. You may know Levar Burton as Kunta Kinte in the landmark television series…
Isn’t that a great word—specificity? It has such a nice ring to it. I like the way it feels coming out of my mouth and the fact that I can say it correctly. It’s also a great goal to aim for in our writing.
It happens to the best of us. We sometimes get a bit…
Congratulations to Laura Chase who just published her book, Grasshopper Girl: From Fear to Faith. Laura got the bulk of the writing for her book done, more than 60,000 words, in the Finish My Book in 90 Days coaching program and had this to say about the role it played in her accomplishment:
Finish My Book…
Patricia speaking at the Association of Personal Historians international conference in Sacramento
Do you belong to an organization that invites speakers to share information? If so, let me know. I'd love to come and visit with your group and discuss any number of writing-related topics. If you'd like to see a partial list of my most…
October is breast cancer awareness month, and to remind residents, my hometown of College Park has gone pink! In addition to the pink ribbons displayed at the post office and in my many shop windows, College Park crosswalks and curbs at the corners of Princeton Avenue/Smith Street and Edgewater Drive were painted bright pink. A…