Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes and metaphors from William Maxwell… I had never heard of William Maxwell until a client introduced him to me. Although long dead (Maxwell’s dates are 1908-2000) […]
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Reading time: About 3 minutes You’ve certainly heard of standing desks, but have you ever heard of walking ones? Here are some treadmill desk benefits… I am an eccentric. Here are some of my credentials: I have a computer file with all my recipes and I make a menu plan once
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If you’re ever feeling discouraged and downhearted about your own writing ability, you can learn a lot from the insecurities of other great writers. Don’t you think it’s vastly encouraging to learn that a widely idolized writer had moments of grave doubt? Such was the case with Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964). An essayist as well as
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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 Anna Wiener… There are few genres of books I enjoy more than a good memoir. So, when I heard positive reviews
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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: codswallop… I’ve known the expression, “that’s a load of codswallop” since I was a child, likely on account of my father’s British
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Reading time: Just over 5 minutes Do you make the mistake of trying to research WHILE you are writing? Make researching less painful by separating these two steps. Does the following scenario sound familiar?… You’re writing something that requires a great deal of research, and accuracy is paramount.. As a
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At one of our weekly Get It Done calls, one participant recently asked why I’ve started focusing on speed. I’m paraphrasing freely here, but he said something like, “I’m comfortable with the speed at which I write and I don’t really need or want to do it any faster.” While I respect everyone’s right to
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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 similes from the American writer Curtis Sittenfeld…. I heard about novelist Curtis Sittenfeld thanks to the release of her 2020 book, an alternate political novel about the life
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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 phrase: in spate… When I read the novel The Porpoise by Mark Haddon, I was struck by the number of “British-isms” in his
What does ‘in spate’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes Here are my 10 favourite articles or posts from last month, focusing on the most useful, helpful and healthful pieces for writers. When I worked in the newspaper business, I had to learn how to cope with what we called “silly season.” At the height
PubCoach top 10: August 2020 Read More »
