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For Writers

Artfully Said–Still Life with Stuff

Paul Cezanne, Dish of Apples, ca. 1876-77. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Paul Cezanne painted a lot of fruit in his day. Sometimes they were arranged on a dish like this and sometimes they were just scattered about on a cloth or piled on a table. They were usually surrounded by common objects

Have / Of: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain

Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Have / Of What trouble could these simplest of words cause? As it turns out, plenty. This mistake gives me a major headache, so I’m on a campaign to eradicate it

Today’s Fabulous Visiting Writer Is…

CARMEN NEALE! Carmen Neale has been writing since she was a child in her native Colombia. She says writing is as necessary for her happiness as eating or breathing. She prefers to write fiction but has also written several memoir pieces based on her early life in Colombia. She writes both for children and adults.

Less / Fewer: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain

Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Less / Fewer Can you count it? Can you know that there are fifteen cats at the rescue and only four gerbils? Than you know that there are fewer gerbils than

Etudes–Frederic Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Opus 23

Etudes are musical lessons. Composers write them to help musicians build skills, practice technique and master their instruments. Music has lessons for writers, too. Experiencing it can help us to master skills we need in our art form—things like sensory awareness, observation, focus and how to transfer all of that into words. Here’s a chance

Hello Classroom Teachers,

I know how hard you work, especially if you teach writing—the planning, the reading, the grading. It can be grueling to get it all done. I, too, was a classroom teacher—for thirty-six years. You are my people. So if anything on this website will help to ease the workload for you, you’re welcome to use

Lead/Led: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain

Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Lead, Led, Lead This one makes me itch. The sooner we all get this right, the better! Lead and led are pronounced the same but are very different words. When you

Prompt-ly: Quick Writing Prompts to Prime the Pump

Here’s an observation exercise for wherever you are right now. Write the alphabet down the side of a page. Make a sensory observation for each letter of the alphabet–something that you see, smell, touch, hear or taste. Want to up the ante? Don’t include things you see.

Artfully Said: Shoes Make the Man–And His Art

Vincent Van Gogh, Shoes, 1888. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Van Gogh’s shoes are ordinary shoes. But his painting of them is vintage Van Gogh. His brush strokes, his color choices, his lighting, his approach–all work to take an every day object and elevate it into art–in singular Van Gogh style. What