story-telling – Veni. Vidi. Scripsi.

Writing More Like Elmore

A few years back I came across Elmore Leonard’s short list of rules for writing. The man had a way of making stories feel like real life overheard. One line from him has stayed with me: “My most important rule is one that sums up the ten. If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”ContinueContinue reading “Writing More Like Elmore”

A Place in the Line

There is a certain kind of work that doesn’t ask to be noticed. No ribbon cutting. No podium. No name on a building. Just a weekday morning, a line of cars, and somebody trying to figure out how to make groceries last a little longer than they should. You show up, you do your part,ContinueContinue reading “A Place in the Line”

FROM THE WEB: Lessons from Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle” – Word on Fire

While researching my literary anniversary piece on J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle,” I came across an essay that thoughtfully explores the spiritual shape of the story. The author describes it as “probably the closest thing in Tolkien’s corpus to an autobiographical allegory,” a claim that feels earned the longer you consider the tale.ContinueContinue reading “FROM THE WEB: Lessons from Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle” – Word on Fire”

December 4: ‘On Fairy Stories’ Turns 76

Stories shape worlds, worlds shape stories. And sometimes, a story about stories can change how we see both. On Fairy Stories (1947) The essay got a fresh face in 2008. A lecture becomes a touchstone, a scholarly reflection on imagination, myth, and meaning. On December 4, 1947, J. R. R. Tolkien’s essay On Fairy Stories was published in EssaysContinueContinue reading “December 4: ‘On Fairy Stories’ Turns 76”

Early Waters: First Pages of ‘The Gales of November’

When I was writing a commemorative post about the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I stumbled across a new book on the subject. That put me in a bit of a quandary: since retiring, I’ve been trying to downsize my personal library from four six-foot bookcases to two. Ouch! If you’re a bookworm, you knowContinueContinue reading “Early Waters: First Pages of ‘The Gales of November’”