Year: <span>2017</span>

It’s not too early to start writing your memoirs—even if you’re only in your early thirties. (And if you’re in your fifties, sixties, or beyond, what are you waiting for?!) You may think, “I haven’t led an interesting enough life for people to want to read my story.” And you may well be right—but I’m...

Well, here I am back in the hospital. This is getting ridiculous. Another five-day stretch of discomfort, boredom, little sleep, none of the comforts of home except my computer…but who can work in these surroundings?

A recent planned trip to the hospital segued into an emergency, and the procedure I had gone in for was quickly followed by emergency surgery—major surgery. I was in the hospital for 3-1/2 miserable days, and when the surgeon’s PA finally signed me out, I was so overjoyed I broke down crying.

No, don’t be put off by the title. The subject isn’t cooking or household management. You haven’t wandered into the wrong blog. We’re still talking about writing, here—just not about books, this week. You see, I do other kinds of writing, too. One of them is plays.

When was the last time you made up a story? I am NOT talking about lies, fabrications, or to use the current term, “alternative truths.” I am not talking about the story you tell your boss about the (non-existent) flat tire you allegedly suffered with on the morning you REALLY were late to work because...

Even if you don’t own a Monopoly™ set, you may have a “Get Out of Jail Free” card you don’t know about. What am I talking about? I’m talking about overdue library books and the Amnesty Program. All too many people have overdue library books. In most cases, this is not a case of trying...

Some people, when they go out to eat, always try something new. Call them adventurous. Call them explorers. Other people, when they go out to eat, always order their favorites. My Uncle Harry, a mean tease whom I hated visiting when I was a kid, would have called them “stick-in-the-muds.”

As little kids in elementary school, you may have participated in “Show and Tell.” But as writers, we are always advised, “Show. Don’t tell.” This admonition is intended to guide us into showing rather than telling what a character in fiction or a real-life person in nonfiction is thinking, feeling, planning, and so forth. But...

Back when I was a kid (you remember the Dark Ages, don’t you?), teachers and many parents were down on comic books. Teachers wanted kids to read “real” books, not comics. My own mother, more than satisfied with the copious numbers of books I read, had no objection to my reading comics as long as...