What I learned about writing from watching Hallmark Christmas movies Each one is similar, employing a number of archetypes, bending toward stereotypes. But they might be the antidote to what ails you. December 20, 2023 Roy Peter Clark
What I learned about writing and storytelling from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer There may be no more efficient example for teaching the elements of story than the story of Rudolph, just 88 words. December 18, 2023 Roy Peter Clark
What I learned about writing by listening to Jimmy Buffett To fully appreciate Buffett, we have to understand the ‘power of the particular,’ the spongecake, the six-strings and the boiling shrimp. September 12, 2023 Roy Peter Clark
Opinion | What Tony Bennett taught me about the life of a writer The 96-year-old singer never stopped learning and would not accept a creative death, even as the culture of music changed. July 24, 2023 Roy Peter Clark
What I learned about writing from Tina Turner: Rough writing is good In a prologue to an iconic performance of ‘Proud Mary,’ Turner explained how she revised the song with a radical change of tempo — from easy to rough. June 1, 2023 Roy Peter Clark
Opinion | The passing of the queen recalls an important writing strategy Seven different pals sent me an identical message to deliver the news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II: ‘The Queen, my lord, is dead.’ September 16, 2022 Roy Peter Clark
Opinion | What I learned about good writing from Francis X. Clines Clines leaves behind a legacy of sharp and graceful writing, arguably unmatched in its range, energy and creativity. July 14, 2022 Roy Peter Clark
From Babel to Pentecost, ancient lessons for public writers What writers can learn from two Bible stories — retold not to evangelize, but to draw energy and inspiration. February 1, 2022 Roy Peter Clark
What writers can learn from at-home COVID test instructions. Yes, really. Want to see what civic clarity looks like? Read the directions for Abbott’s BinaxNOW COVID-19 self-test. January 20, 2022 Roy Peter Clark
What I learned about writing from watching Hallmark Christmas movies An appreciation of Hallmark requires swimming against the tide of a half-century of literary and political criticism. December 17, 2021 Roy Peter Clark
May the words be with you: What writers can learn from ‘Star Wars’ After more than 40 years, the Force is still with us. "Star Wars" is everywhere. And so is its influence on the craft of writing. May 4, 2021 Roy Peter Clark
Happy 100th anniversary to the poem that every writer needs to know ‘The Second Coming,’ by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, offers many lessons in a year in which the world seems to be falling apart. November 25, 2020 Roy Peter Clark
Pulitzer-winning journalist Jim Dwyer, admired Roy Peter Clark writes: "What I most admire about Dwyer is his embodiment of both literary and journalistic sensibilities." October 8, 2020 Roy Peter Clark
On the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima, we learn once again from the work of John Hersey The world changed on Aug. 6, 1945, and Hersey gave us a view of what American forces had unleashed. It ended one war but ushered in the nuclear age. August 11, 2020 Roy Peter Clark
What I learned about writing from John Lewis A close reading of the congressman and civil rights leader’s last words, published posthumously in The New York Times on the day of his funeral. August 10, 2020 Roy Peter Clark
