Author

Roy Peter Clark

@RoyPeterClark

Roy Peter Clark has taught writing at the Poynter Institute since 1977.  He is the author or editor of 19 books on journalism and the writing craft including “Writing Tools” and his most recent “Murder Your Darlings: And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser.”

The shift of "branches" in a sentence creates shifts in mood and meaning

The shift of “branches” in a sentence creates shifts in mood and meaning

A recent One Great Sentence post, about a line from Dan Zak’s essay for the Washington Post about the political culture of Iowa, inspired me to add a few thoughts.…
February 21, 2020
A tribute to the "beauty and power" of work by novelist Toni Morrison

A tribute to the “beauty and power” of work by novelist Toni Morrison

EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece was shared, with thanks and permission, by our friends at The Poynter Institute.AUTHOR’S NOTE: American author and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison died August 5, 2019, at…
August 6, 2019
Not just a guilty pleasure: "Game of Thrones" holds essential writing lessons

Not just a guilty pleasure: “Game of Thrones” holds essential writing lessons

EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the world can’t seem to get enough of “Game of Thrones,” we are co-publishing this essay with our friends at The Poynter Institute, with their permission. I have…
June 5, 2019
Roy Peter Clark on the search for the "embedded narrative"

Roy Peter Clark on the search for the “embedded narrative”

 Not long ago, I came out of a theater in Tampa, Florida, and heard someone calling my name. It was Adan Martinez, a young college student who had just performed…
May 21, 2019
Roy Peter Clark: A red-nosed reindeer lights the way to better writing

Roy Peter Clark: A red-nosed reindeer lights the way to better writing

Roy Peter ClarkEDITOR’S NOTE: In the spirit of the giving season, the Poynter Institute gave us permission to use this piece (first published by Poynter Dec. 10) in which Roy Peter Clark teaches…
December 21, 2018

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, not the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Why is it so great? The writing in this famous passage is so good that George Orwell wrote a parody of it designed to ridicule the bloated writing of his day:“Objective…
March 1, 2018

“No single gesture would do more to demonstrate continuity and stability … “

“No single gesture would do more to demonstrate continuity and stability — to show that the government of the United States would continue to function without interruption despite the assassination…
February 7, 2018

“Before the aurora borealis appears, the sensitive needles of compasses all over the world are restless for hours, agitating on their pins in airplanes and ships, trembling in desk drawers, in attics, in boxes on shelves.”

Why is it great? I admire the way Dillard turns a piece of natural science into a narrative of anticipation during which no human being makes an entrance.  The aurora…
November 15, 2017

“The private estate was far enough away from the explosion so that its bamboos, pines, laurel, and maples were still alive … “

“The private estate was far enough away from the explosion so that its bamboos, pines, laurel, and maples were still alive, and the green place invited refugees — partly because…
October 11, 2017

“If the history of the earth’s tides should one day be written by some observer of the universe, it would no doubt be said that they reached their greatest grandeur and power in the younger days of Earth, and that they slowly grew feebler and less imposing until one day they ceased to be.”

Why is it great? Few authors have written as magnificently about nature as Rachel Carson, and this sentence is a good example.  Its strength is not in form but content. …
September 13, 2017