Sometimes a sentence stops me for reasons I can’t entirely explain, or even defend. Often it includes a moment of description or metaphor that teases out a personal memory, or plants the seeds of feelings. Almost always they capture the … Read more
Why it’s so great: This isn’t a particularly elegant sentence. It may even come across as disingenuous – a popular, successful Hollywood actor who, at 65, still claims to be a “humble student” of his craft. But “A Word With” … Read more
Why is this great? Writers wade into the world to witness it in all its dimensions, then remake it in the hieroglyphics we know as words – marks we use not just to describe, but to create meaning. Words can … Read more
Why it’s great: Deadline reporting of natural disasters is a tightrope walk. Too little drama and events are reduced to factoids that don’t take hold in the readers’ mind or heart. Too much and a story risks becoming overwrought. As … Read more
Why is it great? My mentor Ron Speer of the Virginian-Pilot liked the opening line of the Bible for Greatest Short Lede Ever. I go with Buchanan. I’m hooked with four words. I can’t stop reading. Not possible. I … Read more
Why it’s so great: Tyler is a novelist, not a journalist. But the work of writing is the work of writing. In this New York Times profile by Charles McGrath – based on a rare bit of time with reclusive … Read more
American flag, somewhere over Lake Superior off the shore of Bayfield, Wisconsin Jacqui Banaszynski What makes it great? Forgive the indulgence of … Read more
Maryland Capital Gazette deputy editor Rob Hiassen Joshua McKerrow, Capital Gazette Why is this so great? Before we get to that, let me say I wish I … Read more
WHY IS THIS SO GREAT? Or … is it? This might cause eyerolls as a “great sentence” pick. It’s not what most would call high literature, and likely will be breezed by in a fast read. Some might even call … Read more
Why is it so great? I have come to love bagpipes, perhaps because they conjur special moments in my life, perhaps because they are rooted in my maternal heritage. But I know many cringe at their screech and whine. Outdoors … Read more
