What Does It Mean to Be “Happy”? Hedonism vs Eudaimonism
People talk a lot about happiness. It’s even enshrined in the United States Constitution: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among … Continue reading
Should You End a Sentence With a Preposition?
In English grammar, a preposition is a word that typically comes before a noun or pronoun and expresses a relationship between that noun/pronoun and another word in the sentence. Prepositions indicate location, time, direction, manner, or other relationships. Here are … Continue reading
Lessons from the Extreme Economy of Pop Song Lyrics
Here’s a bit of trivia that may interest you. From 1962 until 1970—a period of eight years—the Beatles collectively composed and released about 200 original songs. Various experts have estimated that the average Beatles song has about 200 words. Some … Continue reading
Do You Write for Yourself or Your Reader?
If you’re a writer, or indeed any type of artist, who are you working for? Yourself or your audience? There are many people who assert that every artist—writer, musician, painter, filmmaker—should follow their own muse and create what’s meaningful to … Continue reading
The Truth About “Show, Don’t Tell”
I don’t know who thought up the writing axiom “Show, don’t tell,” but I believe it causes endless confusion and misery for writers who already suffer from poor self-esteem and are ready to bow their heads to an imagined High … Continue reading
Be Nice to Your Reader!
I may be wading into treacherous waters here, but in my humble opinion too many literary novels that are highly praised by critics are in fact nearly incomprehensible to the average adult reader; and I get the feeling that too … Continue reading
Why I’m a Happy Ghostwriter
There seems to be a lot of interest in ghostwriters these days, perhaps spurred by the recent “Gathering of the Ghosts,” a one-day convocation in New York of around 140 successful ghostwriters. They came together, it seems, mostly to complain … Continue reading
Your Novel May Not Be Real, But It Must Be Believable!
In storytelling and novel writing, there is a big difference between what is objectively real and what is believable. This is the two-part rule: 1. Nothing in your story needs to be real. 2. Everything in your story must be … Continue reading
“Becoming Invaluable” Is an Invaluable Self-Help Book!
Congratulations to my valued clients Steven J. Bowen and Terry Lyles, Ph.D., on the publication of their new book, Becoming Invaluable: Develop the Willitude to Navigotiate Success. What does it mean to be invaluable? The authors suggest that it’s entirely … Continue reading
Write a Book and Rise Above the Crowd
We live and work in a business environment that is intensely competitive. Top-tier business schools churn out thousands of new graduates every year, all looking to make their mark in the corporate world. New hires fight their way up the … Continue reading