Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

You finally broke into a market you’d been dying to break into. Some Big Magazine has hired you to write an 800-word article for their front-of-the-book, and you’re ecstatic! You work hard as can be, proofread like crazy, and send it in, sitting by your inbox and waiting for the note back telling you how […]

Beware of Pestimists

Pestimists are those pesty, pessimistic voices that make us question our actions and dreams. They play in the background of our lives, like Muzak—barely noticeable yet incredibly potent. The messages they deliver vary from person to person; however, the words they use often go something like this: •You can’t write.•No one cares about what you […]

Better Writing: Power Sentences

(These notes have been taken from the writing of Peter Roy Clark, Senior Scholar and Writer at the Poynter Institute for Journalism, with kind permission.) RULE NUMBER 1 Begin sentences with subjects and verbs, letting subordinate elements branch to the right. Even long sentences can be powerful when abiding by this rule. In English, a […]