Earlier this month, Wordery, an online bookstore and literary marketplace, published a study answering the question, “Are the most popular rated fiction books written by men or women?” Respondents commented with their favorite books of all t
Category : Pro tips
Levelution of language 2021: a fool-proof guide
Toward the end of summer 2020, I engaged in a text exchange with a relative who will remain unnamed, but let’s just say he/she/them/they were at least 25 years my junior. In response to one of my extremely brilliant, curiosity-inducing questio
Writers who will restore your faith in American civil society
Over the past several decades, Americans haven’t just become more divided along ideological lines – they’ve also become increasingly hostile toward fellow citizens who don’t share their political attitudes. According to Pew, partisan an
Five-step storytelling method
If you want to stand out in your industry, you want to be considered a thought leader in your field. As such, you gain credibility and help influence others — two things that every CEO or executive can use to their advantage in their business. One
For better or worse, the rise of microcontent
Short-form copy, microblogs, clips, snippets, soundbites — yawn. The latest craze in the publishing biz that caters to our rapidly deteriorating attention spans, microcontent is any form of media that is consumable in 10-30 seconds. That inc
The elements of style in the age of noise
“Writing is hard, even for authors who do it all the time,” offers Roger Angell in his introduction to the everyday writer’s handbook, The Elements of Style. Angell himself is no stranger to writing, having watched his stepfather, E.B
Marrying the written and the visual
Have you ever looked at an event flyer and thought, “Cool artwork, but can you just tell me the date and time of the party, please?” Then you scour the graphic for a few extra seconds to find the information you need. That moment of frustration
George Orwell and how to write like a human being
The essayist George Packer recently outlined what he believes is one of the most pernicious “enemies of writing” today: “My students have come of age during a decade when public discourse means taking a position and sticking with it.
How to build a character-driven narrative
First of all, allow me to say that I am not qualified to be giving my opinion on writing. I am not a “writer” by trade; but I am someone who often finds himself writing scripts because it’s a requirement of the job. This disclaimer isn’t a f
What many writers already know
Catastrophes have a way of fast-forwarding history. After millions of women joined the labor force during World War II to help the United States reach staggering levels of industrial production, attitudes about women and work would never be the same