Sometimes someone asks me why I don’t go back to investigative journalism. People typically say these things: You were so good at it, and you always say your blog writing helps your recovery, so why not be a reporter again? My journalism background does help both my current writing as well as aiding my recovery, (more…)
One of the first pieces I wrote was in answer to readers who wanted to know about writing and structuring a piece of writing. I got great feedback on that one so I figured I would do a bit of an update—not all of you reading were here last time.
To recap, I originally advised the structure outlined below.
When writing, you are implicitly starting out with a purpose or premise, whether or not you state it directly; you can imply it. The implication is something like, I want you to know about, think, feel, do, believe…something. My purpose here, with this very essay, may be paraphrased as, I want to tell you something about writing. That’s called the organizing statement. In a minute I’ll explain why it’s called that.
In response, you, the reader on some level, is asking, why should I know about writing or what should I know (or even, why should I care). This reader response to the organizing statement is called the organizing question.
Now on to the good stuff.
It’s been quite a while since I wrote an essay about writing. Some people had let me know they were interested in writing, but had no idea how to get started writing, so every once in a while I devote a column to that topic. This time I thought I’d get back to how I (more…)
It wasn’t until I had been discharged from a month-long hospital stay in 2016 after experiencing a major stroke that I had even heard of the Brain Energy Support Team (BEST). For some reason I don’t really know or understand, I decided to get into a support group. The social worker at the hospital gave (more…)
I love haiku and though the form doesn’t have the same nuance or depth in English as it does in Japanese, I still strive to write the “perfect” haiku. It’s not that I expect to ever be a great poet. It’s that the energy I put into creating a haiku is so different from the (more…)
(Editor’s Note: Writer and BEST guest blog contributor, Isaac Peterson, shares his tips on creativity and sharing the written word with others. Thank you, Isaac, for this valuable and inspiring information! KT). I was just thinking back on my pre-stroke life as an investigative journalist and how much it helps me with writing and blogging. (more…)
