Articles

"... equal was the one thing all men were not."

“… equal was the one thing all men were not.”

Clichés are a bane of original writing. Unless you turn a worn and tired cliché on its ear (I sure hope you notice what I did just there) and make…
February 10, 2021
Jacqui Banaszynski
Videos taken by Parler users from the U.S. Capitol assault tell a valuable story

Videos taken by Parler users from the U.S. Capitol assault tell a valuable story

Last week, Sen. Mitt Romney called for preserving evidence of the destruction caused by the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol “so that 150 years from now, as people…
February 9, 2021
Alexander Trowbridge
Jumpstart your writing routine: coffee, journals, sketches and postcards

Jumpstart your writing routine: coffee, journals, sketches and postcards

I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions this year. However, I did launch a new morning routine.Every morning I get up, make coffee, get the woodstove going, sit in my…
February 4, 2021
Jill U. Adams
How the magic of mushrooms inspired magical science writing about ecology

How the magic of mushrooms inspired magical science writing about ecology

Ferris Jabr follows a forest ecologist into the woods to listen to the conversations that happen above and below ground
February 3, 2021
Alla Katsnelson
Five days and five senses: Free writing as a daily practice

Five days and five senses: Free writing as a daily practice

About this time every year, the stories start rolling out, urging you to reset your  New Year’s resolutions — and make them realistic. That’s because by this time, every year,…
February 2, 2021
Jacqui Banaszynski
How 66 days of shell art helped a retired journalist rediscover her writing voice

How 66 days of shell art helped a retired journalist rediscover her writing voice

EDITOR’S NOTE: Cathy Henkel, a retired newspaper reporter and editor from Seattle, was wintering on the west coast of Mexico when borders closed because of COVID. She turned a hobby…
January 29, 2021
Cathy Henkel
"We start with more questions than answers..."

“We start with more questions than answers…”

The retirement of newspaper editors is usually the stuff of insider industry news. Occasionally one breaks through to merit attention far more broadly.Martin Baron is one of those. The announcement…
January 27, 2021
Jacqui Banaszynski
An imperfectly perfect photo that honored content over style

An imperfectly perfect photo that honored content over style

By now, you’ve no doubt seen a few dozen — or several thousand — of the creative memes featuring Bernie’s Chair. Or is it properly thought of as Bernie’s Mittens?…
January 26, 2021
Jacqui Banaszynski
Lessons in the purpose of poetic language from a presidential inauguration

Lessons in the purpose of poetic language from a presidential inauguration

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of two posts today analyzing the power of the presidential inaugural poem delivered Jan. 20, 2020, by Amanda Gorman, and reflecting on its place in…
January 21, 2021
Roy Peter Clark
America's first hip-hop inaugural poem ties history to the present, optimism to urgency

America’s first hip-hop inaugural poem ties history to the present, optimism to urgency

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of two posts today analyzing the power of the presidential inaugural poem delivered Jan. 20, 2020, by Amanda Gorman, and reflecting on its place in…
January 21, 2021
Lisa Grace Lednicer