Why is a raven like a writing desk?
Why is a raven like a writing desk? (Lewis Carrol, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) The truth is I don’t know. And neither does the Mad Hatter (who poses the…
Reuven Dattner
It’s not often that one gets to meet with a real artist. I see your scorn. ‘What do you mean by real?’ you’re thinking. I’ll tell you. I think an…
A Lesson in Theme – The Gruffalo
This post is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Leah Carman Fried. A witty and charming young woman who passed away on March 28th. May her memory be a blessing.…
Getting the Most Out of Dialogue
“Where’ve you been?” he demanded eagerly. “Daisy’s furious because you haven’t called up.” “This is Mr Gatsby, Mr Buchanan.” They shook hands briefly, and a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment…
Morning Pages and Writing Practice
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the terms, morning pages is writing practice. Morning Pages is a term coined by Julia Cameron; writing practice by Natalie Goldberg. Julia…
The Leap of Faith
An enormous amount of faith goes into writing fiction - I mean, why do it at all? Alice Munro Alice Munro is the first Canadian and thirteenth female to win…
When Failure is a Friend
Failure and I were practically twins. We looked alike. We were inseparable. Back in elementary school and even in high-school, I failed all the time. Test after test. I just…
Who’s Responsible for the Destruction of the Temple?
Jews all over the world mourn the destruction of the Jewish temple and their exile from their land, on Tisha B’Av (the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av).…
Barbra’s Streisand’s Fib?
Barbra Streisand’s perhaps biggest career setback happened in 1967. Or not. In Central Park. In front 135,000 people. She forgot the lyrics to a couple of songs. She found the…
Advice from Srugim’s Writer
I had a completely different blog post in mind for today. I’ll have to save it for another day. Great moments are not planned. Sitting in the park reading Joseph…
What I Learned From Stephen King
So I finished Stephen King's memoir, On Writing. It's a book with lots of valuable tips about writing but for me these were the most instructive: 1. Read Strunk and…
Writing and Copywriting
Apparently I'm not original. Not all the time anyway. I just read an article I really enjoyed. It's called Six Authors Who Were Copywriters First. Nobody wants to be a…