9 writing tips from the man who won more literary awards than any other writer, ever. — Philip Roth was kind of a jerk. That’s not new. A lot of writers are jerks. Charles Dickens was a cruel man with bizarre obsessions. Flannery O’Connor Was A Raging Racist. J.D. Salinger liked little girls. Norman Mailer stabbed his wife in rage. Writers are just people. …

It sucks to write for crickets. Here’s how to use ChatGPT to write better stories that people actually want to read. — You know what really sucks? It really sucks to spend hours writing and editing a post and then when you publish it? Pffft. Nothing. Crickets. David Ogilvy once said people read what they want. Duh. Sometimes, it feels like what they want isn’t me. lol. Ogilvy was a marketing guy…

Over 2000 5-star reviews should tell you something! — Y’all. Omg. Do you remember Annie Wilkins, the “dying” woman who ran away from home and ended up saving her own life? I wrote about her in February in History of Women. Seriously, over 4700 claps on that piece. Her story is that inspiring. Here’s a quick overview. Annie was…

Peering in the hive mind can be really helpful, but it can also be so stupid it’s funny — Y’all… fair warning. I have a weird sense of humor. Probably because I’m Canadian. When you live where there’s snow half the year, and it’s hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk the other half, maybe a person can’t help being a bit off the beaten track. Anyway. Unless…

Some people think women have wage equality. They’re wrong. We never have and we still don’t. — Letters to the editor are nothing new. They appear in newspapers all the time. But in February, 1869 The New York Times published a letter to the editor that tackled a heated topic. The writer wanted to know why women government workers don’t get paid the same as men doing…

Your opening is killing you.😕 Here’s how to fix it.😊 — When my kiddo was little, I used to read her bedtime stories. Every night. Know what I never did? I never started with a long soliloquy totally unrelated to the story. Like, if we’re reading James and the Giant Peach that day? Not even once did I start with a…

100 years later, it’s still no. Here’s the sentence she asked them to agree to. I don’t understand why they said no. Do you? — 100 years is a long time. In 1923, the Model T was the most popular car and prohibition was the least popular law. Time Magazine published their first magazine, and Roy and Walt extablished Disney as a company. It’s the year the Hollywood sign first went up. That was the…

Anyone who tells you which is right? 😕 Is wrong! 😊 — Here’s a thing writers love to argue about. Should you write for your audience, or should you write for yourself? Then they debate for hours. Vehemently. Some people will say you “have to” write for yourself. Or it’s all just fakey fake pandering and it’s not genuine. Blah, blah. …

Women proving lady brains aren’t inferior — Let me tell you something crazy. Ready? Harvard University opened in 1636. 387 years ago. For the first 200 years, they wouldn’t let women attend. Which means they’ve had female students for less than half the time they’ve been open. Know why? Men thought lady brains were inferior. It’s a…