Monique Polak

If you're wondering where I've been, the answer is on the living room couch, CORRECTING ESSAYS. My fingers are getting sore from all the writing -- that's a bad sign for my students sincestrong papers don't require nearly as many comments as poor ones do.

Okay, I don't want to talk about correcting any more, since as soon as this blog entry is written, I have to go back and correct more papers. Instead, I'll tell you about an excellent book about nonfiction writing I am using in my Print Journalism class this semester. The book is called The Elements of Story and it's by Francis Flaherty, an editor at the New York Times. Flaherty has lots of interesting, useful advice and some of it applies to fiction writers, too. Because I really should be correcting and not writing blog entries for you, dear reader, I will just pass on one of Flaherty's tips: "To write is to choose, which is to exclude."  In other words, there's no need to tell your reader every single thing about say, a teenage character's bedroom. It may not matter that the curtains are thick or that the floor is made of wood. Just be sure to include what does matter, what helps illustrate your major point or theme. Anyway, hopefully I've now given you a little something to think about... time for me to get back to my correcting frenzy!!