Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about metaphors relating to time… I just about gave up on the podcast S-Town, produced by the same team who brings us This American Life and Serial. Initially, the story of John B McLemore […]
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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 phrase: etymological fallicist… As a result of my own recent foray into video —you can see my work here — I’ve started watching more Internet videos. No cat videos for me, unless they
What’s an ‘etymological fallicist’? Read More »
Reading time: Just over 5 minutes How can you improve your writing? Here are 33 lessons I’ve learned over the past 33 years…. I accepted a job as a senior editor at a metropolitan daily newspaper some 33 years ago. Little did the company understand I knew almost nothing about writing when I took the
33 writing lessons from 33 years of writing… 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 Guardian article written about novelist Wyl Menmuir… I had never before heard of UK writer Wyl Menmuir, although I was enthralled by his name
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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 and metaphors from British writer Claire Fuller… I recently finished the exquisitely written novel Swimming Lessons by British writer Claire Fuller. To be fair, I don’t think she wrapped up
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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: anomie… Steven Heighton is a Canadian novelist, short story writer and poet. I’ve never read any of his books — the most famous of which is Afterlands (2006) currently being
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Ignoring advice may seem like a misguided idea, but sometimes it makes sense to do that. Here’s a description of when to go against what you’ve been told… After my blog post about an easy productivity hack last week, I received an email from a reader. “I’ve been doing five
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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 an article about Vancouver lawyer and writer Kate Bond… Can you write something meaningful on a city bus? For Vancouver-based lawyer
Can you write during a bus commute? 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 and metaphors from Nell Stevens… One of my favourite books so far this year has been the memoir/travel book/novel Bleaker House by Nell Stevens. It tells the story of her three-month,
The figurative language of Nell Stevens… 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: miasma… Inspired by a mostly positive review on NPR, I recently read the novel The Devil and Webster, by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Described by some as a “thriller,” I found it more of a
What is a ‘miasma’? Read More »
