by Ersun Warncke | Nov 12, 2024 | Uncategorized
For all the storms that comeOn Tuesday, October 29, my home near Valencia, Spain, was lashed with the most extraordinary storm I’ve ever experienced. More than 220 people died. Associated Press: Unprecedented Floods in Spain As the scope of the tragedy began to sink...
by Ersun Warncke | Nov 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
International humanities and social sciences journalHaving just weathered the storm of a lifetime, I await the election outcome with a similar sense of dread and urgency. Urgency, not dread, must drive our actions. Hence why I’ve chosen today to announce the launch of...
by Ersun Warncke | Oct 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
Anne Lamott, 1994Key wordsWriting, writer’s craft, creative writing, narrative writing, writing teacher, books about writing, writer’s life, personal writing, writing for beginnersLast week, I wrote about Steve Almond’s shiny new tome Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the...
by Ersun Warncke | Oct 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
Steve Almond, 2024Key wordsWriting, writer’s craft, creative writing, narrative writing, writing teacher, practical writing advice, personal essays, short stories, fiction writing Craft books aren’t supposed to make you cry, are they?Steve Almond’s DIY Manual for the...
by Ersun Warncke | Oct 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
William Zinsser, reissued 2016Key wordsWriting, nonfiction, writer’s craft, creative writing, narrative writing, interdisciplinary writing, writing teacher, practical writing advice, professional writing First published in 1976, On Writing Well is a book that would...
by Ersun Warncke | Oct 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
The I’s don’t have itAs a college application essay coach, my inbox is inundated with personal essays. All of them rife, riddled, replete with a construction that starts to feel like a hammer hitting a nail: I + verb.I think. I did. I was. I believe. I...
by Ersun Warncke | Oct 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
Ditch the he said/she saidThough ambivalently fond of Ernest Hemingway, one thing I can’t — won’t — argue with is the man’s approach to dialogue. As much as any 20th century writer, we have Papa H to thank for excising the clutter of he/she/they...
by Ersun Warncke | Sep 24, 2024 | Uncategorized
Coming to you from the writer’s desk, not the desk of the writer English is a magnificent language for many reasons. One of which is the mind-blowing innovation of the possessive apostrophe. In Spanish, one can’t say ‘Laura’s house’ — it has to be la casa de...
by Ersun Warncke | Sep 17, 2024 | Uncategorized
Just don’t do it.I have a brilliant student (like, brilliant; this kid says they’ll save the world, and they might just) but they have a punctuational Achilles heel: exclamation marks.Every time they send an essay I return it dotted comments that just read:...
by Ersun Warncke | Sep 10, 2024 | Uncategorized
Why ‘I did it myself’ won’t doDelete thisAs promised, this week begins a series of five posts that will improve your writing without you writing a word.Ctrl+f Delete: The secret to better writingMy favorite literary gibe of all time is Truman Capote...
