Believe in human-created writing AND benefit from technology. — Readers want human-crafted stories. More and more, editors read submissions written with too much help from artificial intelligence. AI, including ChatGPT, Jasper, Bard, or another option, can be valuable when used for specific tasks, not to write your article. New writers and those with English as a second language may…

How my best friend’s death inspired a new tradition. — In June of last year, my best friend, Lucy, was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma. By October, cancer had spread throughout her body, to her lungs and brain. If you’re lucky, you may have at least one ultimate best friend in your life—that person who is fascinating, fun, and shares…

More choices for authors of memoirs, fiction, or essays. — While I wash the dishes, work out on the gym's elliptical, and even drift off to sleep, I binge podcasts. Just for fun, check out my eclectic audio library, and you’ll see Finding Mastery, The Proof with Simon Hill, and Lex Fridman, among others. Most writers have an insatiable curiosity…

And why would a reader care? — “But what should I write? Nobody is interested in my life — I’m not rich, famous, or a criminal. Why would anyone read an essay…about me?” Every writer has this question. If you publish a story, you hope somebody will read it. Every writer I know hopes lots of people…

Become friends with these voices in your head. — When you write a memoir, you get to be three people — the Narrator, the one telling the story, the Protagonist, the main character; and the Expert, the educated writer who understands character arc, adverbs, and the usage of commas. Now, it may sound strange, but realize you already tell…

Miss a leg, and you’re left with a weak and wobbly story. — Today we’re discussing essays — personal essays about memories. However, many of us can’t define that elusive, confusing genre. And that’s essential if we are going to create meaningful work. You may remember the five-paragraph essay format many of us learned in high school. It contained one introductory paragraph, three…

Steps to turn thoughts into words that reach the heart. — A memory, a subject, a thought can stay in our minds, and we just know it needs to be a story. However, it takes more than an unforgettable or traumatic event, an idea, or a thought to create an essay. Often the story doesn’t resonate with readers because the meaning…

Halloween, until New Year's Day, is a time to be extra-mindful. — I've been struggling this week. Down in the dumps. Blue and listening to the blues. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone break-your-heart kind of music. A year ago, I left my children and grandchildren behind to move thousands of miles. …

Cut the extra words and answer the right questions to strengthen your work. — Show, don’t tell. Hook the reader with the first line. Connect to the reader emotionally. You’ve all read these writerly exhortations along with the following: Avoid overuse of the passive voice. Don’t use too many adverbs. Put your damn commas in the proper place. But how the heck does a…