When I graduated from college the first time with an Associates degree there was no such thing as a Department of Continuing Education. I had an awareness of and affinity for lifelong learning as I reached for my diploma on that sunny June day; but my first matriculation was so long ago that academia hadn’t… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Writing
Editing Life
by Sidney S. Stark January marks the beginning of a new calendar year with parallel fresh initiatives. NO, I didn’t say resolutions. Happily, I’ve learned not to rule my life with ‘shoulds’ anymore. But starting something new is often energizing, and the beginning of my new writers’ workgroup is living up to that promise. It’s… Continue Reading
Confidence
What is it? Is it essential to success and happiness or merely a useful tool? How much is too much or not enough? Who decides? Can it be acquired through learning or must it come naturally and without effort to be of value. That word ‘confidence’ has cropped up in too many conversations I’ve had… Continue Reading
Somebody Else’s Shoes
By Sidney S. Stark Can you put yourself in somebody else’s shoes? I’ve never doubted for a moment that I could until last year after I’d been to a lecture given by Elizabeth Strout on the subject of how she structures her novels. In the process of explaining her approach to the start of her… Continue Reading
What is Character?
by Sidney S. Stark ‘She doesn’t have any character,’ ‘Lord, what a character!’ or ‘It was really out of character’, all describe different traits within the parameters of personality, temperament and moral fiber. So clearly character can mean many different things to different people in various settings. But what does it mean to an author… Continue Reading
Play it by Ear
by Sidney S. Stark The phrase ‘play it by ear’ has many nuances of meaning in both its literal and figurative iterations. The one we’re all most familiar with refers to the musical ability to perform a piece without notation. The furthest extreme of that version is probably represented by the prodigious skill of the… Continue Reading