When writers ask me how they can improve their writing skills I always ask them about their reading. They often look at me somewhat deflated – ‘Did she not hear what I was asking?’ I can see them wondering. But, truly, emulating the work of other writers is the best way to improve your own writing. When I read, I’m always looking for great sentences. And when I find them, I write them down. (I’ve learned to do this immediately, usually by entering them into my iPhone.) Each week, I share one with you, providing the sentence, the author and my description of why I figure the sentence worked so well.
Word count: 320 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I comment today on one written by Collum McCann. I tried reading the novel Let the Great World Spin […]
And then my soul in a sling… Read More »
Word count: 274 words Reading time: About 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I comment today on a sentence written by Ian McEwan. I’m a big fan of novelist Ian McEwan. Atonement is
Beyond the tinnitus hiss of silence… Read More »
Word count: 332 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I comment today on sentence written by English author Neil Gaiman. I loved the 2009 novel Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The moon was a thin white smile… Read More »
Word count: 229 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I write today about one produced by Canadian novelist Don Gillmor. I’ve been a longtime believer in the magic
A fountain of money that shot out of the ground… Read More »
Word count: 380 words Reading time: About 1.5 minutes A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I write today about one produced by Matthew B Crawford. One of my readers (so sorry — I can’t remember
A perfectly fit mortise… Read More »
Word count: 215 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I write today about one produced by Hendrik Hertzberg, in the New Yorker. Why is it so much fun
The great Weiner roast… Read More »
Word count: 247 words Reading time: About 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. Today, I write about a sentence by Lucy Grealy. Lucy Grealy wrote deeply moving memoir, Autobiography of a Face, as I
The cruelty of children is immense… Read More »
Word count: 237 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. Today’s comes from Will Ferguson… I wrote yesterday about the political-psychological thriller 419 by Will Ferguson, describing a simile he’d
They were taut-torsoed men… Read More »
Word count: 363 words Reading time: About 1.5 minutes A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. Today’s comes from Tobias Wolff. I’ve worshipped the writing of Tobias Wolff (pictured above) ever since I read his memoir This
He thought it when he saw the three women together Read More »
Word count: 280 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. Today’s comes from Ruth Ozeki and her novel A Tale for the Time Being. I read Ruth Ozeki’s latest
Her fingers press against the rag surface of her dream… Read More »
