That Attitude of Gratitude
I subscribe to Suleika Jaquad’s Isolation Journals (on Substack), which includes writing prompts each week, and this week the focus was...
Freelance journalist and teacher
The Blog
.... Further, most current thoughts
Search
Dara Colwell
- Nov 17
- 3 min
Why I Write
I’ve started teaching journalistic feature writing again at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, which prompts me to think more deeply about...
18 views1 comment
Dara Colwell
- Feb 4
- 3 min
No Us, No Them. Just Us.
Two years into the pandemic, it’s become glaringly obvious that while we might be in this together, humans have the rotten tendency of...
15 views1 comment
Dara Colwell
- Jan 11
- 3 min
The Power of Letter Writing
Lockdowns have triggered a resurgence in letter writing--a good thing I came across an article the other day on the art of writing love...
27 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Nov 8, 2021
- 2 min
Positive News isn’t just Positive—but its impact is
I became a journalist to make a difference—but how to do so when the industry struggles to stay afloat in turbulent seas and is...
42 views1 comment
Dara Colwell
- Feb 8, 2021
- 2 min
Igniting the inspiration to write
I love writing and like all passions, it’s not always understood by those who don’t share it. I grew up in a family enthusiastic about...
22 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Dec 23, 2020
- 3 min
2020: The Gift of Uncertainty
Photo by Marlon Trottmann from Pexels 2020 has left me with a jumble of bizarre impressions: heightened emotions over health scares,...
14 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Nov 23, 2020
- 3 min
Fake news and Facebook: how we need to start caring
I am currently teaching a journalism storytelling course at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, and during our first class we discussed why...
17 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Jul 22, 2020
- 3 min
Disagree with me, but listen
I was trained as a journalist, so you’d think I follow the news daily, but I just can’t. Really, I won’t. The glut of information (and...
40 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Jul 7, 2020
- 6 min
Exploring Outer Space from the Inner Female Perspective: Mindy Howard
Time for the Space Cowgirl! It’s not rocket science to say men hog the spotlight when it comes to the space race, and 2020 is no...
157 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Jul 3, 2020
- 3 min
Sentimental journey: when travel wasn't tourism
The summer holiday months are upon us, yet I am still in the middle of an extenuated spring-cleaning phase, which started months ago when...
36 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Jun 10, 2020
- 3 min
A Victorian feminist influencer
It’s 2020, and while technology continues to advance rapidly, human nature remains the same. What drives modern-day technology (such as...
33 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- May 26, 2020
- 2 min
Write about Now
I often tell my students to think of writing as taking a photograph—but of your thoughts. Writing freezes time. As we live in such...
24 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- May 18, 2020
- 3 min
Film and life: seeing character in action
I am still working on my first screenplay, which has been a 5-year process, and after so many years learning how to plot a story, I am...
11 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- May 11, 2020
- 4 min
To write better, change your perspective
The word “routine” conjures up dozens of associations, both good and bad. When it comes to work, having a routine leads to efficiency and...
5 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- May 4, 2020
- 5 min
The gift of death
The best writing comes from the heart. This is as true with investigative journalism as it is with fiction. But tapping into the heart...
41 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Apr 20, 2020
- 6 min
The corona virus: time for a new normal
We are now four months into dealing with the coronavirus and it’s still unclear what to believe. The excess of information,...
22 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Feb 25, 2020
- 3 min
Amsterdam's Urban Temple
Because more of us are moving to cities than ever before, loneliness is increasingly part of the urban landscape. According to a TimeOut...
26 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Feb 13, 2020
- 2 min
Unblocking Writer's Block
Writer’s block is a paradox. While there are thousands of words written on the subject—from how it feels blinking at a blindingly white...
9 views0 comments
Dara Colwell
- Jan 21, 2020
- 2 min
English: the global lingua franca
I have been teaching ESL for 30 years now, yet it never ceases to amaze me how English is continually being adopted across the globe....
18 views0 comments