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: rebarbative…. I’m still reading the book Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (pictured above) and I can tell you already that it’s one of the […]
What does ‘rebarbative’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 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 on how to figure out your best time of day… Do you know your best time of day
What’s the best time of day for writing? 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 a series of similes from novelist Katherine Heiny…. I seldom read what might be described as “chick-lit.” That kind of writing usually doesn’t appeal to me. I can’t recall why I
The figurative language of Katherine Heiny Read More »
Reading time: Just over 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: restive…. I started subscribing to the New Yorker magazine back in 1993, shortly after Tina Brown (pictured above) had become its editor. While I’d found much of her work
What does ‘restive’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes A research diary can take a number of different forms, but it will help you declare your opinions about your research AND allow you to stay connected with the writing process…. After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, at about the age of 11, I started keeping a diary.
The research diary: why you should keep one Read More »
Reading time: Less than 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 focussing on misguided ideas about writers… Do you imagine successful writers to be fabulously wealthy? Or perhaps you
What are your misguided ideas about writers? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similies and metaphors from omaopy editor Mary Norris…. The majority of people who are really good at grammar often aren’t hugely creative. It’s almost as if talent in
The figurative language of Mary Norris 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: spavined…. When I read a Calvin Tomkins story about artist Dana Schutz in the New Yorker, I was thrilled to see it gave me three fascinating words.
What does ‘spavined’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Can an electronic editor like ProWritingAid help you improve your writing? Here are my thoughts after having tested the program for several years…. When I wrote about the grammar-checking software Grammarly several years ago, my post generated huge reader response (some 279 comments online) and it still regularly generates emails
Is it worth paying for ProWritingAid? (And is it better than Grammarly?) Read More »
Reading time: Less than 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 written by Austin Kleon…. Austin Kleon is the Texas-based New York Times bestselling author of three illustrated books and a
How Austin Kleon can teach you to use a notebook Read More »
