“Originality is undetected plagiarism.” William Inge T.S. Elliot[1] famously said, “Mediocre writers borrow, great writers steal.” As always, he put it plainly. Ralph Waldo Emerson put it obliquely: “Commit a crime and the earth...
Read More“What can be said, lacks reality. Only what fails to make its way into words exists and counts.” E.M. Cicoran Ron Hansen’s[1] essay, “The Ethics of Fiction Writing,” is provocative and dead-on: “The first principle of the...
Read MoreProbably. Well, it’s probable that all successful novelists, who’ve actually published novels, have tricks of the trade. It’s virtually certain that some novelists, particularly those who have not published one, are sans tricks...
Read MoreIt could be maddening. It was maddening at many levels when Alex Pheby,[1] the author of “Playthings,”[2] cast a famous schizophrenic as the major character in his novel. Catherine Lacy called the book “maddening” in her New...
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I am an author and a part-time lawyer with a focus on ethics and professional discipline. I teach creative writing and ethics to law students at Arizona State University. Read my bio.
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