If you’re like me, you sometimes have absolutely no trouble coming up with a perfect title. It just falls onto the page, as if through divine or muse-like inspiration. But other times the gods and muses are silent. You have the dreaded place-holding “[Title]” or “[Story]” or “[today’s date]” written at the top of the page. And nothing falls from the sky, not even bird poop. I’m not sure I have all the answers (my disclaimer), but I hope that by exploring different kinds of

Details, quite simply, are one of the most important parts of literary writing. The way writers use details—what they choose to present...

In the last two style essays, I covered relatively short, simple sentences ( §1.1 ) and their longer counterparts ( §1.2 ). Now I’m going...

My Editing Philosophy Like all good editors, I’m concerned with those elemental, essential aspects of writing, including plot,...