Inspiration in the Cards: How Tarot Can Help Us Narrativize Our Lives
The first time a friend convinced me to let her read tarot for me, I was reluctant: I didn’t want to know the future. I didn’t want to feel defined by a psychic prediction I had no agency over. Today, that remains true. If it feels ironic that despite this, I now read tarot for […]
Two Apple Problem: What “Show, Don’t Tell” Means in Graphic Narratives
I was taking an online graphic narrative class and one of the other students, looking at the first page of a piece about falling from a tree and breaking my back when I was ten, said, “Don’t draw an apple, then write Apple .” I’m a writer. I’ve taught creative writing for 35 years. But […]
4 Key Writing Lessons from ‘Pachinko’ Showrunner Soo Hugh
Overwriting has a place and a purpose, according to this showrunner. Apple TV’s Pachinko , a drama series based on the 2017 novel by Min Jin Lee, has garnered accolades galore since its premiere in 2022, including a Peabody Award and a Critics’ Choice Award. The story begins in 1915 in occupied Korea but reaches […]
7 Howlingly Good Werewolf Books
Screenshot from An American Werewolf in London Growing up as a monster kid, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man were basically the big three, the unholy trinity of spookiness. I tore through Stoker and Shelley, but wondered why there wasn’t an equally-iconic fictional take on the werewolf. Sure, there were the great Universal films— Frankenstein […]
Doppelgängers Abound in “The Hills of California” and “Yellow Face”
The setting for “The Hills of California,” Jez Butterworth’s often comic, secretly heartsick drama, now at the Broadhurst, is an unfashionable guesthouse in the seaside resort town of Blackpool, in the North of England. Do not go in expecting a hill, or the sunny American West: the title comes from a Johnny Mercer song, which […]
Love ‘Heartstopper’? You’ll Love These Books, Too.
Break out the heart eyes and rugby kits: The much-anticipated third season of the gushingly earnest teen romantic dramedy “Heartstopper” arrives on Netflix on Oct. 3. The show, based on the best-selling graphic novel series by Alice Oseman, follows Nick Nelson, a golden retriever of a rugby player, and Charlie Spring, a sensitive drummer, who […]
“Navigating the Margins” Provides Safe Space for Students to Build Creative Writing Skills
Isabella Canapp & Noelle Markos, participants in the Navigating the Margins writing program. Two years ago, HCPSS’ LGBTQIA+ Initiatives Specialist Danielle DuPuis decided to try something new. With the help of then-senior Ella Heiliger, she applied for, and won a grant from It Gets Better to launch “Navigating the Margins,” an extracurricular creative writing program […]
Best AI Writing Tools: Elevate Your Writing Game with AI
You’ve heard it: nowadays, everyone relies on AI to write. We use it for social media posts, CVs, essays, marketing content… you name it. Even seasoned writers can struggle with grammar, style, and generating fresh ideas, especially when they write in a foreign language. AI websites and apps transformed the entire writing process. But there’s […]
Writes & Bites: Capital One Café and making the time to write
Illustration by Char Gossage Welcome to Writes & Bites — a series where creative writing MFA student Arianna Gundlach reviews a cool writing spot in New York City and tackles a writing topic that’s been weighing on your mind. This week, we look at Capital One Café located at 853 Broadway, overlooking Union Square Park. […]
Remarkable Paper Pro review: It’s the ultimate writing tablet, but can you afford it?
With its color e-ink screen and superb pencil-on-paper feel, Remarkable’s latest is also its greatest. The price is hard to swallow, though. My laptop is fine for laptop-y things, but when it comes to interviewing someone for a book, taking notes for a podcast or even just compiling a weekend to-do list? The pen is […]