If you believe that writing will be a difficult slog, you’re probably right. If you believe it will fill your tank, that might happen as well. Our expectations become prophecies.
Field Notes on Endnotes
How carefully do you look at the endnotes in the nonfiction books you read? I usually skip them—which makes it particularly cruel that they are such a pain to put together. Of course I want to cite my research. But how best to do that? The many flavors of endnotes Pull a few nonfiction books […]
Re-Humanizing Language
Human beings are abstraction-makers. We love using labels and categories to group things and make sense of the world. The ability to think and speak in abstractions makes modern civilization possible—and saves us time as well. But categories have a cost. When groups of people become an abstract category, they feel more distant, less human. […]
Field Notes on my favorite part of revision
I’ve reached one of my very favorite parts of the revision process: Word Search! Yes, I like to think of it as a game.
When technology changes the writing process
Is AI changing your writing process? Most of us are still figuring it out, as in the early days of word processing, impressed by the time savings.
Field Notes on Subtitles
In today’s installment of Field Notes from a Book in Progress, I bring you ruminations on a subtitle. Specifically, should I tweak the subtitle of The Writer’s Process as I update it?