Reading time: Less than 3 minutes If you think sunk costs are a topic suitable only for economists, read on to learn how this issue affects writers as well. Do you ever do any of the following: Work for a client who belittles you or who pays you poorly? Accept […]
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Like many people, I occasionally have problems with pronouns — words like he, she, it, and they. For example, I might write, “The folder was on the bus, but now it’s gone.” Do you see how that sentence is not clear? Generally speaking, this type of problem is referred to as an unclear antecedent because
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Reading time: About one 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 beta readers… My clients ask me about beta readers all the time: What
How can you work with beta readers? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes and metaphors from John le Carré… I don’t read much “genre” fiction so it might surprise you that I consider myself a John le Carré
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Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: fossicking…. When I read the marvellous novel Hamnet and Judith by Maggie O’Farrell, I learned a laundry list of new words including
What does the word “fossicking” mean? Read More »
Reading time: Just over 4 minutes (but very skimmable) Here are my 10 favourite articles or posts from last month, focusing on the most useful, helpful and healthful pieces for writers. While my Texan friends are digging out from the snow and trying to re-establish their essential connections, I’m reminded
Pubcoach top 10 February 2021 Read More »
If you need to edit a big project — and, by that, I mean a thesis or dissertation that is north of 50,000 words or a book that is 70,000 or more— DON’T freak yourself out. Editing a project of that size is by definition intimidating. But so is learning to cross a busy street, learning
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Reading time: Less than 2 minutes 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 how to be a writer with young kids… I went back to
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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 similes from Suleika Jaouad… Suleika Jaouad (pictured above) was just 22-years-old when she was given the grim statistic that her odds of survival
The figurative language of Suleika Jaouad… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: hortatory… I read the Ben Lerner novel The Topeka School for three reasons. First, I’d enjoyed his earlier novel, Leaving The Atocha
What does ‘hortatory’ mean? Read More »
