Matthew Arnold Stern's Blog, page 7

More songs to raise your spirits (European edition)

I’ve written before about how we can turn to music to cope with difficult times. It’s time again to look for uplifting music. This time, I’m turning to Europe. The elections in the UK and France are sources of optimism, and we hope far-right extremists in our country will face a similar drubbing this fall. […]Related posts:More songs to raise your spiritsEven more songs to raise your spiritsWords and music

This Fourth of July, we must stand together

What to the frightened American is the Fourth of July? We are a week removed from a disturbing debate that confirmed our worst fears about this year’s election. On Monday, the Supreme Court essentially made the president a king. And yesterday, the Heritage Foundation basically threatened us Americans with bloodshed if we didn’t submit to […]Related posts:2016 Parody: All We Talked About Was TrumpIt’s time to change your mindEvaluation: Hillary Clinton’s Acceptance Speech

Writers: Don’t gatekeep yourself

A couple of debates on social media concerned me as a writer. One is the controversy over a best-selling author who now offers a $500 boot camp that guarantees writers will get six-figure book deals like she did. The other is about whether there’s a distinction between a writer and an author. Both tie into […]Related posts:An interview with Joannes Rhino45 things I learned about writingMy Eat Like a Writer Interview

Politics for “normies”

If you’re into politics, you’ve been glued to everything that has happened in this presidential race. You’ve faithfully followed the cable news networks and social media feeds that tell you what you want to hear. You’ve scrutinized every poll. You already have strong opinions about how your party will do and expect everyone feels the […]Related posts:Is Thanksgiving a lie?Can we discuss politics civilly anymore?What I want for America

“Oh, must it all end in violence?”

When I finished the draft of my screenplay, I posted the following on my social media: I have no problem using profanity in my novels, but I didn’t use any in my screenplay. It’s not because I’m shooting for a PG-13 rating. I didn’t need those words to tell the story. I find the same […]Related posts:Going from novel to screenplayApocalypse reconsideredSlaying the dragon

“You are the man!”

When I was in Hebrew school, I learned about King David, Bathsheba, and the famous rebuke by the Prophet Nathan, “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7) This reminds us it doesn’t matter how good, devout, or successful you are, when you abuse your power, you deserve the consequences for your actions. The story also […]Related posts:I side with humanityWhat I want for AmericaWhat Martin Luther King can teach you about public speaking

Going from novel to screenplay

Writers need to tell a story the way it needs to be written. And with my latest work-in-progress, my post-apocalyptic novel needed to be a post-apocalyptic screenplay. Changing directions turned out to be the right decision. The screenplay format enables me to develop characters and take scenes in directions I hadn’t thought of in prose. […]Related posts:My Eat Like a Writer Interview“How has your writing changed in the past 15 years?”Q & A with Joseph Carrabis

Writing for yourself is writing for others

A question writers face is, “Should I write for others, or should I write for myself? Is it better to write to fit a marketable genre, or should I write whatever moves me?” As Steven Barnes pointed out at a Loscon panel in 2022, there’s an overlap between what you want to write about and […]Related posts:45 things I learned about writingAn interview with Joannes RhinoMy Eat Like a Writer Interview

It’s about time

It has been nearly two weeks since my last post, so let’s talk about time. Or in my case, the lack of it. I’ve been busy the past two weeks with work, taxes, book-contest judging, setting up author events, not to mention all the errands, chores, and other activities that happen every day. I’m lucky […]Related posts:What do you say when you talk to yourself?Back to the office as a different person40 things I learned in 40 years about technology

The end of foolishness?

I used to love April Fool’s Day. In high school, we had an annual April Fool’s Day edition of our newspaper that we called the Reject Review. We had plenty of fun (and occasionally got in trouble) for the humorous stories and cartoons we put in that issue. It’s hard to come up with that type […]Related posts:Comedy isn’t easyWhat Lewis Black can teach you about being funnyIs it time to bring back irreverent humor?