By Jacqui Banaszynski According to my pre-Wordle morning scans of social media in recent days, it’s back-to-school time. That seems awfully early to me (What happened to waiting until after Labor Day?), but my own teaching career found me … Read more
By Lauren Kessler We’re sitting on folding chairs around a scarred table, the linoleum veneer curling at the edges, in an airless, windowless room. It’s me and nine men, ranging in age from 38 to 81, all of whom, … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski For five years now, I’ve been acutely aware of the arrival of Friday mornings. Not because my datebook tells me so. Not because the weekend is ahead. But because I am suddenly eager to do the … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second post in our focused series on the core elements of narrative by narrative journalist and teacher Lauren Kessler. Future posts will explore the development of character and crafting of story endings. Read more
By Katharine Gammon Roy Peter Clark says he never meant to write another book about writing. Clark, a senior scholar at The Poynter Institute, had already written or edited 20 books about reading, writing and language. Read more
By Korrina Duffy Timer set. Pen poised. Go! Free writing is for when you just need to write the damn thing already. If you like many have a bad case of blank page syndrome, free writing helps clear the … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This essay is shared with our friends at The Poynter Institute by request of the author. * * * By Roy Peter Clark Early last October I received a small package from England, … Read more
By Chuck Haga The students file in and suddenly some remember the day’s assignment: Bring in a favorite song lyric, something with magic in the way words work together. Out come the phones and they search, trying to remember … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Six mid-career freelance journalists who specialize in science and environmental stories offered takeaways from a weeklong workshop on nonfiction writing held at a guest ranch in Tucson, Arizona. One thing we journalists tend to … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski As we turned the last pages of 2022, I am pondering the years past and the year ahead and the concept of writing practice. I’ve spent my professional life trading in the written word, but never … Read more