I have a student in my just-finished Narrative Writing class with what I consider a once-in-a-decade talent. She wrote three short stories, each one better than the last. The last forced me to pull her aside and tell her, “You’ve got to get this published.” She didn’t respond. When I graded her final exam yesterday, … More Average Is Average
Let me tell you the story of two students. One was a friend of mine back in the 70s. I was always in awe of him, because he had creativity and talent oozing out of every orifice he had. I was not as talented, but I was determined. He wrote screenplays, and was both clever … More Tenacity Over Talent
I’m sitting in the library classroom at our university, where I teach my Narrative Writing class. The final exam is scheduled for 7:30 Wednesday morning, but I have offered to let students take the final exam this morning and get it out of the way. One caveat: they have to have their final project done … More The Obstacle Course
This evening will mark what I think is the 6th (or 7th?) time that a school year has closed and our creative writing club, the Rough Writers, has closed for the summer. As such, it’s our tradition for me to take everyone down to Sonic for whatever they want to eat or drink. It’s my … More What’s Important
The phrase “seeing the elephant” or “he saw the elephant” makes me think of old war movies, especially ones with the British Army bivouacked in a remote area, with references to first combat. But as I research it, it actually originates in Georgia (United States) in 1835. The phrase “seeing the elephant” was originally tied … More Seeing the Elephant
Today I head back into the classroom after a week off for Spring Break. Although “off” is relative (I ended up working the whole week), it will be good to get back into the classroom. I start off at 8:30 with my Narrative Writing class. The Friday before break, the students were supposed to hand … More Easy A
I just got back from Career Day at Chisholm Trail Academy, and one of the decisions I made early on was to be frank and honest with them about writing as a career. I focused on three words for success as a writer: Tenacity, Versatility, Dependability. You have to want it enough to persevere through … More We are the 99 percent
I am off in less than an hour to the local high school to talk for Career Day. They want me to talk about being a novelist; I think because it is “career” day, I will talk to them about being a writer instead. I have wanted to be a writer my whole life, and … More Career Day
It is my privilege to teach writing in a university, something I thoroughly enjoy. This semester I am teaching a class called Narrative Writing, which is a lot of fun. We have 10 students who take turns submitting their short stories (at this point; novel pages later) for critique by the class. It’s tough to … More In Search of Intimacy
My father was a man of few words. Me, not so much. But this week I have been taught a lesson in choosing my words wisely. My wife graciously gave me her cold last weekend. Friday night we had students over, and I was fine. Sunday morning I was coughing up a storm. Monday my … More Speechless
The Great Adventure 