A Weird Spiritual Trick to Disarm Killer Doubts
If you’re like me, when you sit down to write you have a devilish voice in your head. The voice says you’re a failure, your writing will never be good or excellent, and why bother? Read more
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Head Trip: A Page Turner about a False Prophet (Review #6)
In our era of the opioid epidemic, the influence of Dr. Timothy Leary, a guru of LSD, looks less benign than a recent (page-turner! of a) book makes him out to be. Read more
Interviewing the Little People is Underrated
Many journalists act as if access to the Great Man or Woman is everything. This is a mistake. Reporters can write great stuff by talking with ordinary people. Just ask Gay Talese, who wrote one of the most celebrated articles in American history. Read more
The Canonical #MeToo Movement Book that Disappoints
Like the movement at its best, “Catch and Kill” has the virtues of not only justice but also fortitude. Unfortunately, the book also has a vice that weighs down many non-fiction books. It’s intemperate. Read more
The Art of Effective Writing, Part I: Self-Expression is a Trap
Writing in the first person can be a wonderful thing. Except when it’s not. Read more
Three Steps to Writing Humor (Three? … Three!)
It’s tempting to define humor as similar to pornography. You know it when you see it. In fact, humor can be defined more neatly. It upsets the established order. That was George Orwell’s idea. Every joke is a “revolution” or a “temporary rebellion against virtue.” He was right. Read more
When Reporters Act as Referees, the Public Approves
Even before Donald Trump became president, most Americans said they perceived reporters as biased. Seventy-four percent described news coverage as slanted or prejudicial, according to a July 2016 Pew Research poll. Seventy-four percent! That’s three in four respondents. Read more