Shakespeare Day: He Only Worked for Me Live
Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets and shaped English more than anyone, and he never worked for me on the page, only live on stage. A look at why the plays demand performance to come alive.
Category: Writing (Page 23)
ObservancesRay Bradbury Day: The Illustrated Man Got Me for Life
Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man, the book that hooked me for life. On his birthday, a look at the lyrical, humane science fiction that took hold of me and never let go.
ObservancesAgatha Christie Day: The Queen of Crime and the Mysteries I’m About to Write
Agatha Christie became the best-selling novelist in history, behind only the Bible and Shakespeare. She created Poirot and Miss Marple, and her mastery of plot is on my mind as I'm about to write mysteries of my own.
ObservancesNational Day on Writing: Writing Is Something You Do, Not Something You Discuss
The National Day on Writing celebrates why and how people write, under the hashtag #WhyIWrite. My answer is simple: writing is something you do, not something you discuss. A look at the work behind the impulse.
ObservancesNational Punctuation Day: Learn the Rules Before AI Forgets Them For You
National Punctuation Day fights sloppy punctuation, and the marks are having a strange moment. A case for learning the rules cold before AI quietly forgets them for you, and why they still matter.
ObservancesNational Proofreading Day: Proofreading Is More Than Grammar
National Proofreading Day promotes error-free writing, but real proofreading is bigger than typos. The dangerous errors aren't spelling mistakes, they're failures of logic and clarity. A look at what a true pass catches.
ObservancesWorld Storytelling Day: Story Is Your Life, Not Just Your Writing
World Storytelling Day celebrates oral storytelling, the spoken kind, not just the written. That distinction matters: story runs through your whole life, not just your manuscript, and shapes how you understand everything.
ObservancesNational Library Week: Where Readers and Writers Are Made
National Library Week has celebrated libraries and librarians since 1958. I have a soft spot for it, because libraries are where both readers and writers are quietly made. A look at what we owe them.
ObservancesGet Caught Reading Month: Make Your Reading Visible
Get Caught Reading Month has one simple idea: let people see you read. As reading becomes a private, invisible act, a case for making it visible again, for your own sake and for the culture of reading.
ObservancesJules Verne Day: The Father of Science Fiction, Reimagined From the Inside
Jules Verne imagined submarines and space travel before either existed and is the second most translated author in history. On his birthday, the father of science fiction, reimagined from the inside.
ObservancesRobert Heinlein Day: The Dean of Science Fiction
Heinlein is one of science fiction's Big Three and the dean of the genre, author of Stranger in a Strange Land and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. A look at his plot-driven fiction and the complicated love I hold…
ObservancesArthur C. Clarke Day: The Writer Who Invented the Satellite
Clarke gave us 2001, Childhood's End, and Rendezvous with Rama, and he conceived the communications satellite before it existed. One of the Big Three, and a master of hard science married to genuine wonder.