Tag Archives: writing tips

Frog Wisdom

By Dorothy Seehausen

January, 2026

I was scanning the book titles at my favorite thrift store the other day when I came across Ernest Hemingway On Writing, Edited by Larry W. Phillips. I’ve become infatuated with this art form I am attempting to master. There are so many layers to be discovered and applied to the final product. You have the Hero’s Journey, character development, plot, theme, rising action, falling action, climax, denouement, genre….whew! So many rabbit holes for us to fall into.

What makes Phillips’ book so interesting is it’s a collection of letters written by Hemingway to his friends and family. “I am trying to make, before I get through, a picture of the whole world..boiling it down always, rather than spreading it out thin.” Excerpt from a 1933  letter to Mrs. Paul Pfeiffer (Pauline), his second wife. Is the famous writer giving us a tip on wordiness? Know your vocabulary and use it judiciously.

In 1953 he wrote to Charles Poore, editor of the Hemingway Reader,  “There’s no rule on how it is to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly. Sometimes it is like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.”

I never thought about my own writing quite explosively. Perhaps this is Hemingway’s way of explaining the deep dive into the editing process necessary to push back everything that we don’t want in order to get what we do want. Certainly, as Hemingway puts it, every writer needs a sort of poop detector, like a sculptor chipping away at everything that the final piece is not supposed to look like.

I have found that most advice on writing has the same formula for success: Whatever you start you must finish. “You just have to go on when it is worst and most helpless…go straight on through to the end of the damn thing.” This advice comes from a selected letter to his mentor F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1929, with whom Hemingway had a contentious relationship once he rose to fame.

I have personally never been a Hemingway fan. For inspiration I lean more toward Patterson, Nora Lofts, and the satire of Mad Magazine. But every author has something to tell us. Every writer has something to learn. Here we are, over a hundred years later, still looking to Hemingway for tips of the trade.

Happy Writing from the Frog!

Character Enhancement

By Terry C. Misfeldt

Far too often writers forget about giving readers a better vision of their characters. What I mean is that we humans touch our faces — sources say — roughly 1,000 times each day. Do writers share any information about how their characters do that?

For instance, imagine a grizzly old man with a scraggly beard. What kind of impression does he make when he tugs on that beard or picks some scrap of food out of it? Is it gnarled and matted or neatly groomed? Gray or brown with streaks of white? Does he stroke the beard when he’s contemplating some advice he’s given or is planning some devious activity? Could you shock your reader by having him shave the beard and appear as a much younger, more vibrant member of society?

Think about the various ways people touch their faces and how you can envelop those touches into your character profiles.

What does it say if your protagonist tugs on his or her ear lobe?

Can you describe how a younger woman applies her make-up versus an older woman?

If tragedy strikes, how does your character weep and wipe away the tears of anguish?

Does your professor contemplate a question by placing their chin in their palm?

Could you divulge a clue about a criminal by whether they use left or right hand?

Take a few minutes and review your manuscript for subtle nuances you could make that bring your character closer to readers. Do you wash your hands after sneezing?