How to Cover Washington Politicians in an Innovative Way
In Washingtonian magazine this month, New York Times book critic Carlos Lozada discussed how he turns the straw of reading political memoirs into the gold of an art form. Read more
Craft
How One Nonfiction Guru Writes Faster and Better
How author David Fryxell, former editor of Writer’s Digest, organizes and structures his writing. Read more
Three Reasons Writers Today Should Use a Typewriter
Typewriters are like bicycles or stick shift cars. They command your full attention. Make a mistake and you pay the price. In a digital age, that’s more a blessing than a curse. Read more
Popular History Books are Being Marred by (Progressive) Ideology
By definition, popular histories ought to appeal to ordinary book buyers and -readers rather than specialists. And the best among them were not meant to comfort political activists, either. Now that has changed. Read more
Two Lessons from a Day of Rejections
Rejection can — can! — be a good thing. Writers must be mulish. You want two lessons from a disappointing week? Here they are. Read more
As I Please: Using Computers and Books to Report
I am a lover and a practitioner of interviewing people and mining archives. Yet two lesser-known forms of data gathering can be good supplements and even substitutes. Read more
Want to Write More and Write Better? Try These Three Writing Warm-ups
Writing drills or exercises have a bad name in the professional world. They should be thought of as warm-ups like those Olympic athletes and professional musicians practice. You need them to hone your game. Read more
A Guide to Nonfiction Writing: 41 Advanced Tips
Follow these tips. They may not make you the second coming of Tom Wolfe or Joan Didion, but they will make you a more competent and professional writer. Read more
How to Develop a Genius Writing Skill: Using Objects as Symbols
The TV show “Better Call Saul” uses a powerful literary technique: presenting objects as not only things in themselves but also as symbols. While rarely discussed, this novelistic device can make your writing stand out. Read more
The Art of Effective Writing, Part III: Aim for Sincere Rhetoric
The word “rhetoric” has a messed-up etymology. It represents the opposite of its original meaning. Aristotle defined the word as “effective writing or speaking”; think Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Yet rhetoric connotes sophistry or “empty” and “phony” words. How can our words reflect true rhetoric rather than sophistry? In a word, sincerity. Read more