Monthly Archives: December 2016

Hope Smiles

A bouquet of lovely thoughts for the New Year: “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called ‘Opportunity’ and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” … Continue reading

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Book Boy

Renowned American author Philip Roth grew up in Newark, New Jersey . From an early age, he used the Newark Public Library to fuel his growing love of literature. According to our fellow scribe Philip, the following fifteen books had … Continue reading

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Three Gems

“I’ve been teaching writing for a long time and I’ve looked through a lot of writing books. They seem just ordinary to me. There’s nothing about the way they make the case or their arguments, their thoughts, that seem compelling … Continue reading

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Short, Sweet

Have a fresh, exciting story that’s longer than a flash fiction piece, but shorter than a long short story? A story that barrels along and weighs in at 1,500 words or less? If so, then you might want to pull … Continue reading

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Serious Fun

“Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.” Mary Lou Retton, Olympic gymnast champion “We are what we repeatedly … Continue reading

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Little Tree

Little silent Christmas tree You are so little You are more like a flower Who found you in the green forest And were you very sorry to come away? See I will comfort you. Because you smell so sweetly I … Continue reading

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Detail Delivery

“Find what gave you the emotion. Then write it down, making it clear so the reader will see it, too, and have the same feeling that you had.” Ernest Hemingway Ernest makes it sound simple, but it’s not easy! Building … Continue reading

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Telling Details

“The artist, having chosen his theme, picks out only those details that are characteristic and of value for his subject…and he rejects all the remainder and puts it to one side.” Guy de Maupassant Guy was a master at capturing … Continue reading

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Divine Spark

“Could ‘Hamlet’ have been written by a committee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club? Could the New Testament have been composed as a conference report? Creative ideas do not spring from groups. They spring from individuals. The divine … Continue reading

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Darling Dorothy

“Be bigger than your fears.” Dorothy I sat down to write about something else, but my mom Dorothy had other plans for me. You see, tomorrow — December 20 — is her birthday; she passed away of pancreatic cancer in … Continue reading

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