Reading time: About 2 minutes Ashraf Zaghal says that true originality comes from how a story is told, not from the novelty of the concept. Born in Jerusalem, Ashraf Zaghal moved to Toronto in 2006 to study Environmental Engineering. Between 1998 and 2016, he published four poetry collections in Arabic: Wheels of Ashes (Ramallah, 1998), […]
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Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you feel that perfectionism is killing your writing? Here are some simple actions that will help liberate you… My mother often gave me the chore of dusting our living room when I was a six-year-old. And when it came to dealing with the bookshelves lining that space, I remember
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Reading time: About 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about the value of getting enough slack time… Many people who are self-employed believe work should involve no slack
Do you have enough slack time in your day? Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about metaphors from Susan Orlean… I’ve been a fan of Susan Orlean for many years. But with the publication of her aptly-named memoir, Joyride, I’ve become a bone fide superfan. I loved every
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Reading time: About 2 minutes Christopher Amato likes to take writing advice from Ben Franklin, who said, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” Christopher Amato always dreamed of working in law enforcement. After earning a degree with honors in criminology from Florida State University, he served as a federal agent. Upon
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Reading time: About 3 minutes The next time you need to regulate emotions, don’t see yourself as a traffic cop. Regulation looks less like control and more like care… When I begin writing a new story, I sometimes feel a small frisson of fear. Is this piece going to be difficult or boring to write?
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Reading time: About 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I tackle the question whether we’re all too busy to write…. Are you struggling with chronic overload that leaves you too busy to write?
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Viewing time: 4 mins. 36 secs. The Write Question is a weekly video podcast about writing that I started in 2017 and that ran, more or less weekly, until April 2022. This is a republication of issue #92, which describes how to make your research more effective. The post first ran on Sept. 10/21. Transcript:
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Reading time: Less than 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors and similes from Lily King… I don’t know whether to be delighted or alarmed that the Artificial Intelligence lurking inside my Kindle has figured out which types
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Reading time: About 2 minutes Joe Siple says he’s been able to make writing a habit — something he does every morning — no matter how he’s feeling…. Joe Siple is the author of the USA Today bestselling novel The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride. His other books include The Final Wish of Mr. Murray
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