Riffing on language will create wonderful effects you never intended. Which leads me to this writing advice: 'Always take credit for good stuff you didn't intend, because you'll be getting plenty of criticism in your career for bad stuff you didn't mean either.'

Express your most powerful thought in the shortest sentence.

If a period is a stop sign, then what kind of traffic flow is created by other marks? The comma is a speed bump the semicolon is what a driver education teacher calls a “rolling stop” the parenthetical expression is a detour the colon is a flashing yellow light that announces something important up ahead the dash is a tree branch in the road.

Without a serious study of journalism, there can be no understanding of citizenship, democracy, or community.

Writing is not magic. It’s a craft, a process, a set of steps. As with any process, things sometimes break down. Even in a good story, the writer runs into problems. So the act of writing always includes problem solving.

Everyone should read, we say, but we act as if only those with special talent should write.

For what good is freedom of expression if you lack the means to express yourself?