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Andy Unedited

Exploring Books, Life, and Writing

Footnote Your Talks

June 15, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

Once I received a letter from a reader who said that a book published by the firm I worked for had plagiarized his own writing. This was a serious charge and a rather shocking accusation because our book was written by a senior scholar with a stellar reputation. Could this be possible? What made the …

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Advice to Publishers–From a Previous Century

June 8, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

In 1996 Charles Scribner III wrote the introduction to a history of the publishing house whose name he shares.* Here are some quotations that show that the more things change in publishing, the more they stay the same. On the Importance of Finding New Writers In 1913 Charles Scribner’s only son, another Charles (III), graduated …

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What’s So Funny About God?

June 1, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

With images of sober-faced priests, sour-faced Puritans, and stern-faced evangelists firmly embedded in our corporate psyche, it can be rather jarring to ask the question in the title of Steve Wilkens book, What’s So Funny About God? Wilkens faces another challenge. The few books about humor and theology are decidedly unfunny. He combats this trend …

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Where Good Ideas Come From

May 25, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

Parents, sales reps, truck drivers, pastors, teachers, and nurses are always looking for good ideas. So are writers—ideas for blogs, for plot lines, for characters, for humor, for titles, for openings, for closings. Steven Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From, happily enough, offers (wait for it) good ideas on how to find good ideas. One …

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Naturally Speaking

May 18, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

Once at a block party as several dozen of us stood around chatting and eating, a neighbor came up to me and said, “The Smiths are moving away next week, and we have a gift for them, but could you say a few words of farewell?” It was the first I’d heard of this. “Right …

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The Choices We Make

May 11, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

In Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, Nora Seed (single, unemployed and 35) is full of regrets. Every facet of her life has lapsed into failure. She decides to end it all, but unexpectedly finds herself in the Midnight Library. Here she has an opportunity to try a succession of different lives by reversing past decisions. …

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The Magic of the Particular

May 4, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

One temptation writers face is to offer a big idea (or maybe just a moderate-sized idea) without any specifics or examples. We give broad, general advice or theories which may be valid but which may also numb minds. As readers, we may struggle to understand and to remember the point. Our brains crave the specific. …

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Vital Lessons from Countries in Crisis

April 27, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

Poet Steve Turner wrote, “History repeats itself. Has to. No-one listens.” The tragedy is that smart people continually think they are exceptions to the rules. Ironically, people who don’t think they are too smart are better off because they believe they can benefit from the experience of others. In Jared Diamond’s recent book, Upheaval, the …

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Smaller Is Bigger

April 20, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

In Write Better I emphasize the importance of staying focused on a narrow audience—even writing with just one person in mind. That can provide excellent guidance in knowing at what level to write, what to put in and what to leave out, what kinds of stories to tell, and how to organize your piece. Don’t …

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Design Makes a Difference

April 13, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

A well-designed page is a joy to the eye and an aid to the brain. We’ve all come across magazines or books or webpages that make reading a chore. Others we may admire for their grace. And some we may not notice at all because their transparency allows the meaning of the text to flow …

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