Why (and How) I Wrote a Writing Book
I remember the exact moment when a student called out from the back of the room and said, “Dr. H., I just want to learn how to write! I’m tired of all these grammar rules and fancy rhetorical terms!” He wanted to write. And the expensive grammar books weren’t helping him. I stood at the […]
Can You Remember Your 8th Grade English Teacher?
I’m chopping romaine lettuce this morning, and all of a sudden, I’m back in 8th grade. It’s 1988. My teacher, Mrs. Guiles, tells the class: “You know you are in a nice restaurant when you don’t have to use a knife to eat your salad. You want to eat at restaurants that bother to make […]
5 Ways to Write with Flair
If I’m going to live with flair, I have to think about communicating with flair. Most of us will have thousands of occasions for writing in the next year: emails, text messages, resumes, blog entries, cover letters, articles, love letters, essays, reports, memos, or our next big novel. After ten years of teaching, after reading […]