Regarding suffering caused by others, singer Bob Marley had this to say: “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Bob Marley’s Advice...
Essayist Rebecca Solnit has excellent advice for aspiring writers. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Solnit’s Writing Advice” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it...
Writer Isabel Allende offers this writing advice: “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while, the Muse shows up, too.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Isabel Allende’s Advice” One of my favorite...
Victoria from Dallas, Texas, asks whether kibitz means “to joke,” “to chat,” or “to offer advice from the sidelines.” All three senses appear in English influenced by Yiddish, where the word has ranged from casual talk to wisecracking to meddlesome...
An Upper Michigan listener with a form of dyslexia told us he wrote to Kurt Vonnegut years ago about his frustration with trying to become a published writer. Vonnegut wrote back, assuring that when you care enough about your subject, the right...
Steven Pinker’s new book, The Sense of Style, which Martha cites among her all-time favorite books about writing, has just the right message: don’t worry so much about the errors, because you’ll make them, and if writing...