Marcus Goodyear
The Secrets of a Sentence
There’s a story about George Washington Carver. He asked God to reveal the secrets of the universe, and God was silent. He asked God to reveal the secrets of science and biology, and God was silent. Then he asked God to reveal the secrets of the peanut, and God did. I don’t care about peanuts.…
Five Tips for the Writing Dad (or Mom)
My alarm goes off at five. I get up. Flip on the coffee, stumble to the computer, and blink myself awake while the computer hums through its startup. I read a little of my work from the previous day and begin to fall into the clicking rhythm of creation. When the coffee burbles, I go…
Why People Buy Cookbooks (and why you need to know)
My wife wants to be Rachel Ray. Based on the dinner, she cooked last night, I’d say she’s well on her way! Pork chops with cooked apples. Homemade macaroni and cheddar with broccoli and curly, spiral noodles instead of tube macaroni. At our house the Food Network is a favorite channel. We subscribe to Rachel…
3 Secular Podcasts that Changed the Way I Write
First, I have to confess. I never bought an iPod. I’m too cheap. But my dad bought one shortly after they came out. Then he bought a car and the dealer threw in a free iPod Shuffle. I inherited the Shuffle and got hooked on podcasts. It’s true. I listen to podcasts with something bordering…
Is Print Going to Die?
Several years ago, the National Endowment for the Arts warned America: Reading is at risk. They proclaimed that literary reading is declining rapidly among all groups, especially the very young. Two weeks ago, in one of the breakout sessions at Book Expo America, Jeff Gomez wondered about that study. Is print really going to die?…
The Myth of the Author
“What?!” you say. “But an author is almost like God. Authors create a universe and inhabit it with people and weave the tapestry of their fates.” Just stop, okay? Besides being borderline blasphemy, it isn’t that simple. Sure, authors have a tremendous role in the creation of their book, but they are hardly like God…
Pens Should Be Mightier than Toilet Plungers
Martin Espada wrote this advice to young poets in The Republic of Poetry, but it applies to all writers, Christian bloggers included. Advice to Young Poets Never pretend to be a unicorn by sticking a plunger on your head. Let me just extract a few editorial lessons here. 1) “Never pretend.” Good words are always…