15 Aug 2012
Use descriptive blog post titles to attract potential readers
“Hello, Reader. I’ve been expecting you. You fell into my little trap, and now I have you just where I want you.” That’s exactly what you should be thinking when you’re writing each and every one of your blog post titles. More than likely, you’re reading this article because you were specifically interested in its content as I conveyed it to you through its title. Would you be as... read more
6 Aug 2012
My challenges writing literary fiction
Here in the northern hemisphere, February is the time of year when asphalt crumbs can be found sprinkled amidst gray-colored slush that is plowed against street curbs. It was also the month when I guided Write Anything readers on a virtual walking tour of the 1400 block of Patterson Street, a key setting within my work-in-progress of the literary fiction genre. It was then I briefly introduced readers... read more
23 Jul 2012
A fifth grader’s perspective on library book selection
As a fifth grader in the fall of 1987, I often boasted of my clever library book selection process to my peers. Twice monthly my classmates and I trekked some twenty meters from our 1960s- era schoolhouse to the “old building,” a stocky granite structure built in 1921 and home the nurse’s office, a locked-room containing a half-dozen unused appliances known as personal computers, three classrooms... read more
16 Jul 2012
The triumphs of writing
What imagery do you conjure when you think of the word triumph? Do you visualize a frenzied celebratory scene, like that of the iconic World War II photograph of a young sailor and nurse kissing in Times Square, New York? Or instead is it something more subdued and personal, like a baby’s first step? Throughout my life the word triumph always drew imagery in my mind’s eye of a medieval gathering:... read more
19 Jun 2012
Writing Prompts: Do you leverage them?
I am an incorrigible, stubborn writer; I rarely leverage writing prompts. And today I resolve to change. You may recall from my 18-January-2012 article, An Introduction to Matt Robb, I’ve been writing diligently only for the past four years. I am an amateur writer in the truest sense. My knowledge of writing continues to grow each day as I practice my writing and when I read others’ blog posts,... read more
13 Jun 2012
You can fit writing into your weekly schedule
If you’re like me, it was somewhere between December 28 and January 3 where you resolved to schedule writing sessions into your weekly routine. How’s that been working out for you? My greatest difficulty as a writer, a writer whose primary source of income does not come from writing, is making time in my schedule to write. This includes time for related activities like plotting, editing, and... read more
17 May 2012
A caution for male writers when creating female characters
Last week, while conversing with my wife about an appropriate housewarming gift for a single woman in her mid-twenties buying her first home, I had an epiphany: I don’t remotely think like a woman. Therefore, I need to expend significant research and call on female beta-readers when creating female characters. If not, my stories won’t appeal or be convincing to female readers. I’ll make this topic... read more
4 May 2012
Writing Changes You
The prologue to my life as a writer began in the spring of 1993, at the age of fifteen, when I heard a song on the radio that changed my appreciation for contemporary music. The song’s melody was mellow and calming; its lyrics, poetic and sincere. I recognized for the first time that well-written songs were powerful enough to splash vivid imagery in front of my mind’s eye. It was some seven days later... read more
