Aravind from Frisco, Texas, asks about wordsmithing, a verb for rephrasing, tightening, and choosing words more carefully. Wordsmith has been around since at least the mid-19th century, built on the older -smith pattern in words such as blacksmith...
For a taste of what it’s like to spend a semester studying writing with a renowned author, check out Alexander Chee’s essay in The Morning News, “Annie Dillard and the Writing Life.” Dillard’s remarkable description of...
A pangram is a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet at least once. The Twitter feed @PangramTweets uses a bot to scour the internet for pangrammatic tweets, providing a weirdly wonderful window on what people write. This is part of a...
Mark Twain and Helen Keller enjoyed a close, enduring friendship. When he learned that she was mortified was accused of plagiarism, he sent her a fond letter as touching as it was reassuring. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Plot bunnies are writing ideas that you can’t get rid of. The only way to purge yourself of the ideas is to write them! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Plot Bunnies” Have we talked about plot bunnies on the show? Plot...
If you want to be a better writer, try skipping today’s bestsellers, and read one from the 1930’s instead. Or read something besides fiction in order to find your own metaphors and perspective. Plus, just because a city’s name...
