My Private Reading Pleasure
Slightly Foxed is my private reading pleasure. It’s British quarterly literary magazine that “introduces its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal.” It contains articles written by people who love to read, often authors, about books they love. A good friend gifted me a subscription when I turned […]
4 Ways to Tell Exciting Stories About Your (Boring) Life
You probably think your life is pretty routine and that you don’t have exciting stories to tell. You get up, eat breakfast, go to work, take kids to school, study yourself, write, whatever it is that you do to fill your days. This mundane life does not seem to be the stuff of stories, let […]
You Need a Story Library
None of us have just one story. We have a multitude of stories. We have a multitude of identities and selves that all need their own stories. I am a mother and a reader and a writer and an entrepreneur. I am also an immigrant, Chinese, American, Dutch, woman, and so much more. So are […]
Why Controlling Your Story Matters
Life feels wildly out of control these days. COVID-19 has taken all our plans and pulped them. Some of us have been thrust into the wild world of homeschooling and others are isolated like never before. It can feel like we don’t have many choices. It can feel like we don’t have control of our lives anymore. […]
How to use personal stories in professional presentations
I wrote this article on a writing retreat I took a couple of weeks ago. It was my first writing retreat and I used some new technology. I wrote the first draft of this blog post in a hotel room, talking to my computer ! I felt like a fool, at least as foolish as […]
Start your Story Right
My friends, this post is part of a series about story structure. You can catch the overview of story structure and separate posts about the hero and goal in your story by clicking those links. They’ll help you out if you haven’t read them already. We’re going to talk about the beginning of your story. […]
A little book with big ideas about storytelling
The Mystery Feast isn’t a book I went looking for. I suspect it found me. I was aware of Nigerian author Ben Okri as any Booker Prize follower must be aware of him. His novel The Famished Road won the Booker Prize in 1991. However, my interest became more specific last summer. I spent a […]