Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors from Leila Slimani… Considered one of the “it” books of 2018, the psychological thriller The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani (pictured above) crept into my suitcase before […]
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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: omerta…. Remember the tale of Harvey Weinstein? I must confess, I’ve lost track about where his latest trial stands. Last I heard he was being indicted on
Reading time: About 4 minutes Ever tripped up by directions? Learning to become better at following directions is a straightforward way to make yourself look smarter and to be more successful… When I was setting up my first apartment more than 40 years ago, I can remember sitting in a sea of junk in my
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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 Guardian post on the challenges of book cover design…. Book covers — for the same book — often differ in different
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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 similes from Anthony Horowitz… I don’t typically read murder mysteries but somehow the novel Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz, made its way into my hands. Horowitz has written more
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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: crenulated…. I was flipping through an old copy of the New Yorker before passing it along to a friend (I could never throw out a magazine with
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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 similes and metaphors from Gillian Best… One of my favourite writers for 2018 was Gillian Best. (See other fave books from that year here and here.) She’s a
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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: whiffling…. I’m a big fan of onomatopoeia. As you likely know, this refers to words that sound like the meaning they’re meant to represent. Here are a few
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Reading time: About 3 minutes If writing is boring you, solve the problem by figuring out how to increase curiosity. More curiosity will be like a slap on the face or a cold shower. It will invigorate you! The very first paying job of my life was as a babysitter, at the princely sum of
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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 similes from Jennifer Egan… My husband knows how much I enjoy the writing of Jennifer Egan. So, one of his recent gifts for me was her novel, Manhattan
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