TreeHouseLetter

The importance of the English textbook and lessons on writing style. Part 1 of 5 with a book rec, a style guide, and passages from four writers: Tolstoy to Grohl (of Nirvana and Foo Fighters).

Who is superior to  the saint, the scientist, the philosopher, and the poet ? Learn why reading novels--serious novels worthy of re-reading--enriches your life. Why the novel is in decline, what makes a novel great, where to start, and the 3 novels that damaged the prestige of Communism. The Novel, Who Needs It? by Joseph Epstein

Music and songwriting -- how writing for the senses breathes life into words. A live clip of five-part harmony and a look at the verses that make this song a classic.

"The town mouse and the country mouse. Distress and agitation of the town mouse." Aurelius. True story about coffee with the "town mouse" and Willa Cather on town versus country. 3 book recs, 1 film rec, The Music in Prose of O Pioneers! and wordnerd special.

Pickleball. And, passages from 3 short books by prize-winning authors, Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These (2021) and Willa Cather's My Mortal Enemy (1926) and Annie Ernaux's The Young Man (2022). Ernaux opens this book with "If I don’t write things down, they haven’t been carried through to completion, they have only been lived."

If you're looking for gifts or books to read over the winter break , I pulled these titles from the TreeHouse shelves and give you my short takes on 15 books from recent reading: contemporary fiction, nonfiction, books about writing, and for-the-serious/for-the-seeker.

If you're like me, you can use a bit of poetry. Tony Hoagland's poems make me re-think, calibrate to a new heading. Can you stand still and hear the worst of yourself from others? Disappointment. Patience. The song lyrics that "evolve" over the years: the words are the same but the message changes as you change.

What I learned about love this Thanksgiving. Three rules for life.

When working on an aspect of my writing, I pay attention for it in my reading. Improve your writing by tapping into the 7 senses--the 5 sense organs and 2 more. Examples in recent works: Horse by Geraldine Brooks and Zero-Sum Stories by Joyce Carol Oates. Writing exercise from the song-writing guide by Pat Pattison, music professor at Berklee.

Veterans Day, Operation Gothic Serpent, and the 160th SOAR. Elite aviators and family remember the Battle of Mogadishu, 30 years ago. Lessons learned, what the media missed, and the effect on the military family.

A text that gets me off my arse, a visit to the cemetery, and word work on three holidays: Hallowe'en, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day.

Take all the stuff of your life. Put what you think will sell in a 20 feet by 20 feet space. What's in your space? Learn about New England's largest flea market and a classic sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley on the folly of fame, legacy, and empire. Visit my site to get a book rec on song writing and link to an exercise to write through the prism of 7, yes 7, senses.

I'm not sure I like running, even when I was fit and fast. Running at mid-life: there's the pain of it, in the chest, in the knees. This letter explores the reasons I run and what I learn running a race the 7th time. And training with a focus on form and cadence, with an eye to effortless, injury-free running. Plus, four books on running and on living; visit the site for more info on books...

On music and memory, on Norman Blake and Colter Wall. What do we learn from the Fall, from the songs of our lives?

Fall is my favorite season and I suppose it has something to do with the trees. A new poetry collection and farewell to a friend. Passage from Sidney Lanier and The Marshes of Glynn.

A keyhole view of a week with the Literate Laundress. On laundry and language.

This is for my friend K--- and M--- and for you, but I suppose it's for myself. Learn about my daughter's letter and the song she shared with insight into music and the restless soul. Billie Marten's song and Rick Rubin's book on Creativity.

Learn about a real world example of a confusable. Discover a type of word with two opposite meanings. Word Nerd special. A reference and an essay recommendation. Bryan Garner and David Foster Wallace.

Literature informs and inspires us, says Argentine guitarist and composer Carlos Pavan. This letter considers his suite of songs inspired by Jorge Luis Borges, how the songs reflect the stories: El Sur, El Fin, Funes el Memorioso. Melody, myth, perfect memory. Learn why song IS story and discover the Music in Prose of the literary legend.

The four basic sentence constructions are simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.* Like the 8-pack of crayons, this is the first order of business, tools we learn and use as children. Let’s face it: many never learn more than these. Add to your toolbox and improve writing immediately. Learn about loose (cumulative) and periodic (suspensive) sentences with inspiration from Vivian Gornick,...

My friend was recently robbed. It made me sad and reminded me of a story about Ryokan . Learn about the Zen monk who lived on Mount Kugami, Rene Descartes Discourse Part II on Method and Part IV on God and the Human Soul. With a reflection on the death of a young soldier.

A master sentence tends to be long though length is not its sole characteristic,  nor is it a sign of a writer’s mastery. Like any art, the master sentence comes in infinite forms. Instead of trying to define what makes such a sentence, I share an example from the Book of Charlie, a memoir about a remarkable life. Understand the elements of artful sentence construction from a prominent writer.

What I learned in Sun Valley about living and writing and friends. Impromptu visit of Hemingway haunts, who lived and died there. A hike into the clouds, a French hound dog, and a foodie's paradise.

Improve writing immediately. "In the classic stand on the elements of style, writing is neither a way of thinking something out nor an art that exists for its own sake..." Learn about classic prose from authors Thomas and Turner with passages from award winning poet and writer Ocean Vuong. Why classic prose resembles cooking with its preparation in the kitchen and consumption in the dini...

We live in biblical times. Fires and floods. Plagues. Or, pandemics. Learn about flash flooding in the Hudson Valley and the First Noble Truth.