“Yentl” is my favorite short story. Sort of. Let me explain. There’s a joke that the question a reader/writer hates most is also the most frequently asked: “what’s your favorite book.” Or “what’s your favorite short story?” It’s such a personal question. The answer has everything to do with who I am deep down; who…
Tag: reading
“When the Future Appears”
Remember, the time of year when the future appears like a blank sheet of paper -Jackie Kay “Promise” “Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes…” -Rent “Seasons of Love” Theater kids, or at least theater kids of a certain age know exactly how much time that is. Maybe you know even if you weren’t…
Discipline the Breath: What Poetry Does
So first of all Happy World Poetry Day! It’s no secret that we here at 2 Rules of Writing <3 us some poetry. In fact, we’re dedicating the month of April to sharing poetry from all over the world. We have people weighing in with their favorites from Hong Kong, Sweden, Nigeria, Australia, and that’s…
Anne Sexton: This is How I Want to Die
Willie’s essay on Anne Sexton is the first of what we hope will be many contributions to our site! -Ed. How to Help Students Feel? I know how to teach analytical writing. I take pride in saying this because I was terrible at it my first few years of my teaching. I’d find poems and…
If you Love Someone, Give them Books
I’m a writer now. And it’s been an exhausting journey to get to the point where I can say that without feeling ill. With plenty of obstacles. But I’m a writer because I’m a reader. I love books. I love the feeling of a book in my hands. The smell of a new book. Or…
World Read Aloud Day
Today is World Read Aloud Day. I’m not one for anniversaries; my mind doesn’t work that way. But I thought I had something to say about this one. Reading aloud is particularly important to me. I once invited a few people over for Shabbat dinner, and read the entire text of the story “Yentl” to…
Do you Speak Spanish?
My Spanish-Speaking Family I’ve never considered myself a fluent Spanish speaker. On Christmas, sitting under a table as a kid, I’d listen to my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents all speak Spanish around me, but I couldn’t participate, so I grew to ignore it. I started taking Spanish classes in middle school. I learned verb…
Art and Trauma (Caturday)
Well. It happened again. At such times that tragedy touches a community that one of our own belongs to–a community that is a source of both strength and vulnerability–we make the following choice. Sometimes people who are grieving need to laugh. And sometimes they need to write about their feelings. So here’s the comic. Enjoy…
NaNoWriMo Tips: Overcoming Obstacles.
My credential for writing this is that I have written the manuscript for one novel and it has not been published. You don’t necessarily want to hear from someone who has written (and published) half a dozen or more books and is now summarizing their craft. Leastwise I don’t. When famous authors say some version…
Conflict (Caturday Questions)
Big Cat, Little Cat (Adam has left posting this week’s Big Cat Little, Little Cat up to me. I hope I’ve done as good a job as he does.) Can’t We All Just Get Along? Most of us who love to read have a favorite genre. A kind of book we reach for before anything…