Author Archives: Bite-sized Fiction

Short fiction is the perfect way to start writing and reading. You can travel to another planet, explore the West, fall in love, and defeat an army of zombies during your lunch break or a sleepy afternoon. Nothing motivates like a sense of accomplishment. Lose five pounds, and it’s easier to lose the next five.Continue reading “Journeys Over Tea: The Case for Short Fiction”

Like all stories, jokes have an arc, and understanding the arc to a joke is the key to understanding how to write a humorous story.  I’m going to use Norm MacDonald’s “Moth Joke” as a model here for the perfect joke, so watch the video and then come back. Have you stopped laughing? No? We’llContinue reading “How to Write a Joke”

It was 2006. I came across President George W. Bush’s reading list. Fair or not, Bush was not known for being a big reader, and yet, his reading list included more than 14 books ranging from biographies and histories to “Tuck Everlasting.” “The Great Influenza: The Epic History of the Greatest Plague in History” wasContinue reading “Who Reads?”

Delivering new content – whether you’re a writer, artist, or musician – depends on a rich creative mind. In 1939, James Webb Young, VP at J. Walter Thompson developed a process for creativity and published it in his book, “A Technique for Producing Ideas,” still used by advertising professionals today.  Born in 1886, Young leftContinue reading “The Creative Method”