4. If you want to really hurt you parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a ...

A Washington Post reporter was assigned to cover a mundane event — a parade — and delivered a memorable, 590-word story with strong writing, vivid characters, powerful quotes and details.

In Chapter 19 of “How to Write Short,” I take on perhaps the most famous pep talk on short writing ever delivered. Here is, appropriately, a short version of that chapter: Cut it short.