Tag: Newspapers

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Did you Vote?

Did you make it to the voting polls on Super Tuesday? Did your candidates win?

I’m not supposed to talk about voting … or am I? Let me remind you: everything that happened, is happening, or might yet happen can be written about. I wrote for newspapers every week – sometimes several times a week – for over 22 years, and never ran out of subject material. Some of my acquaintances wrote five articles a week and never missed a deadline.

I’ve read about some authors who write a book a month. Now THAT’s what I call BUSY! When I asked one man if he ever got writers’ block, he laughed. “I don’t have time for writer’s block. I have work to do.”

You, also, don’t need to worry about writer’s block. If you get stuck, take a break. Or write about something else for a while. Our minds eventually clear – usually with more detail to write about – and we can proceed.

Learn to stay busy, but learn to enjoy the process. Have fun while writing, and make sure that you …

Write Creatively.

So, did you vote? I did. I may not have liked some of the results, but I will still do my best for society. I hope you do, too.

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Experiment with Genre & Style

I wrote for public newspapers in several states from 2001 through 2023. My subject matter included Bible, history, science, nature, travel, and a lot more. But I didn’t write about animals; that wasn’t my forte.

But one day in July of 2013 after relating a dynamic experience to my friend and co-writer about our kitten getting stuck in a glue trap, he suggested that I write about it in my next article. When I told him I don’t write about animals, he paused, took a sip of coffee, and said, “You do now.”

I thought that would be a challenge, but I was wrong. It was the easiest piece I ever wrote because I merely related what happened.

Did I say “merely related”? Well, that wasn’t quite true. Everything I said in the article was accurate, but I painted the word picture in a creative manner. Through well-chosen words, I let the readers “watch” the 3-month-old kitten as it …. Hey, I’ll let you read part of the writeup so you can see what I’m talking about.

Two and a half month old Marvel was playing in the sun-room. He batted his ball, it bounced behind a box, and he pounced after it. A playful kitten disappeared behind the box, but a hissing, crazed, writhing monster erupted from the other side! He had stepped into a glue trap!

He was screaming, thrashing, flipping, running from his phantom attackers, flailing and irrationally bouncing as only a cat can do, running into walls to make matters worse, and getting glue all over himself; but I was finally able to grab him to remove the source of persecution. I paid (got bit) for my efforts, but I didn’t punish him for that error: he was frantically fighting for his life!

When my co-writer saw the responses I received from readers about that story, he said, “You have added another genre to your bag of tools.” That also introduced me to the genre of Creative Nonfiction, which is described as “true stories well-told.”

So, I encourage you readers to experiment with genre and style. Remember The Cat and the Glue Trap, consider looking into and studying about Creative Nonfiction, and …

Write Creatively

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Today, You Get a Short Note

If you’ve read my blogs on either web site for a while, you’ll note that not all of them are pertinent to your situation. You’ll also note that a few seem redundant, and many of them overlap.

That’s okay. Accept and learn by what applies/appeals to you, and let the rest go.

One of my newspaper column readers called the managing editor and complained, “I really do not agree with Mr. Linzey. I don’t like today’s article.”

The editor asked, “Did you like his column last week?”

“Oh, yes, I did.”

“How about the week before?”

“Yes.”

“Then, you’ll like his column next week, too. So just throw this one away.”

In like manner, you folks are encouraged to use whatever information you can and ignore the rest. And all of us will do our best to …

Write Creatively

Oh, and if you have an extra 10 minutes, you can look us up and find out more about us at https://plpubandlit.org/.

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Write About Your Passion

I suppose that is a goofy way to start this blog, but let’s talk about it in a literary sense.

One of the reasons I had difficulty writing when I was a kid was simple: I had to write about the topics teachers gave me. I wasn’t interested and my writing proved it. But with the help of my 7th-grade teacher, I developed an interest in history. Later, I got interested in several areas of science. Then, the Bible came alive to me in a way I never dreamed possible, and it became my foundation.

With the Bible, history, and science as my passions, the process of writing became not just meaningful, but fun! It was enjoyable because that same passion drove me to read more, and my well of knowledge began filling. Reading and writing became a major direction in my life, but it was the passion – the love of the Bible, history, and science – that motivated me.

However, I still had a difficult time writing what people wanted to read. I didn’t have their passions, and my writing was a little flat. Call it boring! So I decided to write about my own interests. My newspaper columns, my scientific endeavors, my teaching, and my preaching all revolved around the Bible, history, and science. And would you believe it? I had stumbled onto a very important principle, and people wanted more.

Bestselling author Jerry Jenkins said in his blog, The Secret to Compelling Writing, “Write the book you would read. Write it in a way that would keep your interest, and your book will find all the readers you want.”

So I encourage all of you, find your literary passion. Go with it, and …

Write Creatively