On the Use of “Big” Words Often wordsmiths, (my sister refers to me as a wordsculptor), those regular users of words who have acquired a varied and mature vocabulary come under fire for the use of certain words that may not be in ‘regular’ use in the vulgate of the vulgus. (Vulgate and vulgus, two [...]

a letter to a fellow writer… Normal vs Paranormal & Universal Truths I woke up this morning thinking about character conundrums and flashed on one of the points I told you I had made to the ‘students’ I talked to… that of ‘the universe is both infinite and finite; it contains only what you can [...]

The Six Fidelities of Poesie: expression, idea, voice, style, original intent and process are not the six principles of how to write a poem or the six essential elements of a poem, but rather six principles of how and why we write poetry. — Six Fidelities of Poesie Author’s Note: Caveat on Quoting Oscar Wilde. [...]

My seven (7) Organizational Points for Writing a Novel: 1) Time, 2) Time Graph, 3) Computer, 4) Number of Words, 5) Character Graph, 6) Set or Location Graph & 7) Notes File — What You Probably Don’t Want to Know: but I’m going to tell you anyway (advanced writers may skip this part) I am [...]

Sound and Meaning in Narrative and Dialog “As a little consideration will readily show, language exists on two levels.  There is the level of sounds, of which a limited set exists in any particular language, and which may be represented by a s writing system.  The sound and shape of words is the most basic [...]

In Milton A. Cohen’s book about the paintings and poetry of E.E. Cummings[1], PoetandPainter,[2] chapter on “Seeing Around” Form, “Seeing Around” Poetic Structure, page 139, he states: “As the speaker’s mind jumps nervously from one thought to the next (he suffers from insomnia as well as anxiety), his fragmented thoughts move in and out of [...]

Part One. Finding and Using The Poetic Frame The poetic canvas is the blank page which contains three frames. Poets commonly consider only two frames, when they should be utilizing all three; in particular, the third frame. In all of art, the painting or writing to or off the edge is discouraged as a matter [...]

‘Real’ is always illusory.  It is that moment in time that you inhabit.  Whether conscious or in a dream-state if you ‘are there’, if you ‘are present’ the moment is or seems real.  In essence what the brain perceives, is real.  It exists and remains so unless some discernment or benchmark allows the perception to [...]

The essential structure and elements of the paragraph are illustrative of the structure of the novel. Each small paragraph repeats its essence. Just as the paragraph is primarily a group of sentences whose single topic is to be wrung dry before it closes (unless the topic requires the fullness of development over several paragraphs) the [...]

SECRET FORMULA REVEALED– One of my great difficulties with academia is what I call ‘keeping the secret’. Often there is a specific way of doing things in academia, in this case writing essays. More often than not each professor has individual criteria for the work turned in and this makes it difficult for any student [...]