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: gadabout… When I read Gail Caldwell’s marvellous book, Let’s Take the Long Way Home — a remarkable paean to friendship — one line struck me with particular […]
What’s the origin of the word ‘gadabout’? Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes If you’ve ever considered going back to school, you may have asked yourself whether you should get an MFA. Today’s post looks at that idea in some detail. When I was in my 30s, I briefly considered going back to school and getting an MBA — Masters of Business Administration.
Should you get an MFA? Read More »
Are you the type of person who lives up to the writing-related commitments you make to yourself? You want to research for 45 minutes each day? Or perhaps you’d prefer to write for 15 minutes? Or let’s say you want to produce 550 words daily? Or maybe your goal is to finish editing your book
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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: geschrei… When I read the very funny and urbane book Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dryer, I was expecting to be both amused and educated. But I wasn’t
What does it mean to ‘geschrei’? Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes Are you tired of being interrupted? A host of people — from needy children to noisy neighbours — can derail you if you don’t protect your writing from interruptions… As I write this column, a contractor sits in our front yard using a skill-saw. He’s rebuilding the railings and balusters
Protect your writing from interruptions — here’s how Read More »
Many of the writers who work with me begin with one of two problems: They are unhappy with how long it takes them to write, OR They are unhappy with the quality of their writing. I write frequently about problem number one, suggesting such tools as pomdoros, tracking plans and breaking the habit of editing
Don’t mow the same grass twice! 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: faffing…. I had heard that a recent book by Benjamin Dryer was a delightful, amusing read and that it was about, of all things, copy editing, but
What does ‘faffing’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 5 minutes Do you want to learn how to get better organized? I’m an imperfect person in so many different ways, but I do know a few helpful things about organization… I am the best organized person I know. I say this not to brag — more to confess a flaw.
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I read the New York Times somewhat obsessively — for information, for entertainment, to enjoy mostly fine writing — particularly since the arrival of COVID-19. But when I read a recent piece — by a medical doctor about postpartum depression— my mind was immediately taken to the topic of writing. Here was the paragraph, written
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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: luffing… I have sailed fewer than a dozen times in my life. And while I enjoyed the sport — particularly one outing with a friend where I
What does ‘luffing’ mean? Read More »
