A place for those who find and create meaning through words
Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in rooms he rented from bricklayer Jacob Graff at 700 Market Street in Philadelphia. The home is administered by the National Parks Service and is open to public tours. The desire for independence from Great Britain grew slowly in American colonists' hearts. Their central grievance with the mother... Continue Reading →
To all of our teachers in the Eastern Shore Writers Association (and ESWA writers interested in education), please check your inboxes for an invitation to the Thursday, May 8th session The Subject is Writing beginning at 7:30 PM via Zoom. We will explore practical techniques to promote writing across subject areas and grade levels-- and... Continue Reading →
Many interns I have worked with possess the common misconception writing multiple-choice items is quick, easy, and assessments composed of these items are a breeze to administer and score. Reality sets in as they draft their first sets of questions and submit these to me for feedback. They find themselves suddenly in the weeds of communicating... Continue Reading →
Plot, character development, and setting are expected ingredients for an engaging and moving story, but what about energy? A pivotal moment in my evolution as a writer occurred in the late nineties when Stuart Jaffe and David Bender, fellow members of a writers’ group, helped me to see the relationships between pacing, rhythm, and scenes, which... Continue Reading →
“Think of the presidential election process as having two parts.” A student in the third seat of the second row caught my eye, and I drifted toward her as I continued our lesson. “The first part involves state-level elections.” Lily tapped her iPad screen woodpecker-like and bit her lip. I leaned toward her. Lowered my voice. “You okay?” “It’s... Continue Reading →
Writing a first draft is the process of creating a medium, like a sculptor selecting a stone slab for a statue. We conjure our first drafts, our blocks of stone, from thoughts and ideas then cut from these our stories, essays, poems, or informative writings. Understanding the nature of first drafts prevents us from struggling to conjure... Continue Reading →
An old witch living in the woods cursed me as a child. The woman dressed in black stepped from her dilapidated cabin and waved her crooked staff. “For playing in my forest, you shall forever confuse the words “who” and “whom” in complex sentence structures.” A friendly grammarian-sage named David Bender broke the curse years later with... Continue Reading →
I possess two writing personalities, one for my writing career and another for my role as a teacher. These craft suggestions come from my work communicating with teaching colleagues, students, parents, and student teachers-- those less interested in my poetic stylings than in getting information quickly and clearly. Here are seven tips to tighten your... Continue Reading →
I recently expanded my video about Washington, D.C.'s World War II Memorial including more media and narration. This is a transcript of the new narration. Visit my Facebook page if you would like to view the video: www.facebook.com/dcwriting.dcooper/. "The National World War II Memorial honors the contributions of over sixteen million members of the U.S. military... Continue Reading →
Nancy Sakaduski of Cat and Mouse Press sent me a list of edits and revisions for my short story Moonwalker scheduled to appear this spring in the anthology Beach Pulp. She took great care making changes to improve the story’s flow, language, and formatting, like reducing the number of hyphens and phrases offset by em... Continue Reading →
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