My voice teacher hosts a monthly performance class for her students. Her studio includes professional singers with postgraduate degrees in vocal performance and experience in the local opera theaters. Others are confirmed amateurs, learning for personal development. Yet we are alike in one important way: everyone admits to battling nerves before performing, even when singing in this […]
Writing
A Quick Book Review: Between You and Me
Have you ever wanted to argue with a copy editor’s deletion of a hyphen? Do you have strong feelings about using commas for cadence? If so, you’ll love reading Mary Norris’ Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen. The book dedicates entire chapters to gendered pronouns, hyphens, apostrophes, and—yes—commas. It sheds light on The New Yorker‘s copy editing styles, including its […]
The Zeigarnick Effect, or the Pull of the Unresolved
It happened again the other night. I watched a television show that concluded with a surprising twist. Later that night and the next morning, the show kept popping into my thoughts, as I pondered different ways the plot might resolve. Ah, the magic of the cliffhanger. Televisions writers know that a fresh, unresolved plot point keeps […]
Finding Flow in the Writing Process
“Not an early start today but it doesn’t matter at all because the unity feeling is back. That is the fine thing. That makes it easy and fun to work.” – John Steinbeck. The unity feeling – you know what Steinbeck means, don’t you? Have you felt it? The writer Zadie Smith describes a state of magical […]
The Quest for the Perfect Book Title: A/B Testing
Which would you rather drink? Simple A/B testing. The right blog or book title can be the difference between your writing earning a few moments of consideration and passing immediately into oblivion. If your blog post, article, or book needs to find an audience in the larger world, an effective title or headline is critical. The […]
Deadlines Add Life to the Writing Process
Deadline. The word itself has an ominous, unsettling feel: the point beyond which you must not pass. According to Merriam-Webster, the word originated in an actual line beyond which straying prisoners would be shot. Ouch. Deadlines feel like impending doom if you’re not prepared. Ask any college student in the days before midterm papers are due. Yet the word […]