Kate Braverman was on my show the other day talking about her new book of essays, Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles. She had something interesting to say about letting loose with your writing: Use commas. Whenever you feel like using a period, use a comma instead. Commas, she said, start a kind of alchemy and create magic in your writing.

(I’m going to post that show this week. The one up there now is Kate when she was on a couple of years ago.)

I love that, though: Commas…..! Reminded me of what I occasionally ask my students to do–and what they often lament–during a freewriting: Write all one sentence. Then I set the timer for ten or 15 minutes. It’s a great technique. It helps to break down the internal critic, to send that critic hobbling up the street for a coffee so you can be left alone to create.