Matthew Arnold Stern » Creative Writing

“One simple trick” to writing a great speech or story

Matthew Arnold Stern — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:24:46 +0000

As you browse Web sites, you’ve probably come across the “one simple trick” ad that shows you how to lose weight or save on car insurance. (The ad service I use may be displaying one now above this post.) There is a “one simple trick” that will help you write your next speech or story. …

Why writing is deleting

Matthew Arnold Stern — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 03:50:06 +0000

I’d like to share with you a haiku I entered in a BookBaby contest: Write by deleting. What is not necessary Bothers the readers. Why do I believe this is so? When we first write, we should always write more than we need The goal of a first draft is to get the words written. …

Language and Politics

Matthew Arnold Stern — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:40:39 +0000

The quote of the day comes from Roy Peter Clark’s Help! for Writers. This is an excellent book that gives plenty of practical writing tips from organizing your research to editing for clarity. He also makes an important point about political language. Our political discourse has devolved into a war of slogans from the left …

Get Bliss for Free!

Matthew Arnold Stern — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:01:51 +0000

Get my new short story, “Mr. Haley’s Bliss” for free from Lulu.com. In under 600 words, I share a story about a man who finds bliss by savoring an intimate memory. It is my entry in the Lulu.com Short Story Contest. You can download it for your Nook, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or other ePub reader …

“So what’s new with writing?”

Matthew Arnold Stern — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:24:48 +0000

Plenty! First of all, you can now buy my novel Offline for your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and many other eReaders that support ePub books. If you buy it at Lulu.com, you can get it for the low price of $4.95. If you haven’t read it, consider adding it to your summer reading list. I’m …

Borders and Licorice Pizza

Matthew Arnold Stern — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:28:59 +0000

I look at Borders, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today, the same way I look at Licorice Pizza, a favorite music store of the 1970s and 1980s. Both were fun places to shop at, but both fell victim to the economy and changing times. Music stores, like bookstores, were social spots as well as places …

Offline on sale

Matthew Arnold Stern — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 01:19:04 +0000

While I’m working on my new novel, you can now purchase my first novel from Lulu.com for 25% off! Enjoy the novel that readers called: “Wonderfully and thoughtfully written, an interesting and insightful story of our times.” “A superb novel enriched by excellent use of the English language, and it’s worth reading, especially by those …

How to write a banned book

Matthew Arnold Stern — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 02:42:01 +0000

This is Banned Books Week. I’m doing my part by writing a book that will probably be banned. The way my novel is shaping up, it will have everyting a book needs to be banned: sex, violence, politics, religion, profanity (in three langauges, one of them invented), and characters who utter ethnic slurs (including some …

Where I lost Kings

Matthew Arnold Stern — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:47:18 +0000

A brooding Silas Benjamin (Ian McShane) ponders the fate of his kingdom in the NBC series Kings. (Photo courtesy NBC) I really wanted to like the new NBC series Kings. I’ve always enjoyed alternate history stories and putting modern twists on classic tales. Furthermore, there has been little that is creative and innovative on broadcast …

Paint it Orange: A Literary Orange Review

Matthew Arnold Stern — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:01:26 +0000

I had the great fortune of attending Literary Orange on Saturday in Garden Grove. As a writer, it was a wonderful opportunity to be inspired and to learn from others. I also had the opportunity to meet published writers and became interested in genres I hadn’t considered before. For example, I never gave a second …