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
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
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
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
Best Selling Business and Leadership Books Often Tell Stories
If you’re thinking about writing a business book (or hiring a ghostwriter to do it for you), you might assume that you want either expository writing or persuasive writing. Expository writing is when you explain a concept or share information, … Continue reading
If Paperback Books Didn’t Exist, We’d Invent Them
On November 19, 2007, Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, personally introduced the Kindle e-reader at a gala event in New York City. Despite its bulky appearance, the device was heralded as a disruptive technology that could wipe … Continue reading
Great Books Allow – And Even Invite – Repeated Readings
When I read a book, and I like it, I’m inclined to read it again. And again. Just like you’d listen to a favorite record over and over, until the grooves are so worn you have to buy another copy. … Continue reading
The Significant Limitations of Chat GPT
Today, I signed up with Chat GPT at OpenAI.com. I wanted to learn about it and, if possible, use it to enhance my own work. I quickly discovered two things. Its ability to write with flawless grammar is astonishing. Every sentence … Continue reading
The Secret to a Great Opening Sentence in Your Novel
“Call me Ishmael.” Thus reads one of the most famous – and, by writers of fiction, envied – opening sentences in Western literature. It launches Moby-Dick, and those three words are memorable because they provide information about the protagonist. The … Continue reading