All opinions expressed in the blog are solely mine. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose organization.
"Easy reading is damn hard writing." - Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Writing is easy; all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." - Ernest Hemingway
"The difference between good writers and bad writers? Good writers know where they're bad." - Dan Brown
Writing well advances your education and career. Communicating simply and clearly pays you again and again. AI suggested, "writing about writing works because volleyball, like prose, lives on clarity, repetition, and decision-making under constraints."
Some suggestions for better writing:
1. Overcome the tyranny of the blank page by getting something down. Our creative imagination writes and our critical imagination refines.
2. Big words and complex sentences aren't usually better. Any Hemingway fan knows that.
3. "Trust but verify." We're wired to believe what we see, hear, and read. That's how some choose to deceive their audience. A great story may, in fact, be fiction.
4. Do the research. Read "On Writing" and "Bird by Bird" on vacation or in your spare time.
5. Shave syllables. In his MasterClass, David Mamet discusses the comedian's task, shaving syllables.
6. Think about structure. A joke or story has three parts - the beginning, middle, and ending. "What was the last thing George Washington told his men before crossing the Delaware?" "...pause," "Get in the boat."
7. Become a storyteller. "Made to Stick" informs the SUCCESS acronym of the Heath Brothers... simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, stories.
8. Grammar and vocabulary matter. King advises writers to use powerful verbs and limit adverbs. I'm not a grammar Nazi, but avoid these words - really, truly, very - which add nothing. What annoys me? Authors who abuse split infinitives, run-on sentences, and pronouns, e.g. "him and me" shopped.
9. When unsure of how our writing sounds, read it aloud. "Awkward" sounds awkward.
Note: The Hemingway editor assigned this as "Grade 5" level (good) and one sentence as hard to read (the AI sentence).
Resources:
"On Writing" (Stephen King) explores his childhood, career arc, and writing principles.
Hemingway Editor. Free tool to assess readability.
"Bird by Bird" (Anne Lamott) informs her process, including "$***** first drafts."
MasterClass, specifically Bob Woodward, Washington Post investigative journalist
"Made to Stick" (Chip and Dan Heath) shares storytelling tips
Artificial intelligence programs (refine not originate)
Lagniappe. Vision quest?
#LeadersAreReaders pic.twitter.com/VKPU9O37oU
— Bob Starkey (@CoachBobStarkey) February 8, 2026
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