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: blowsily… I’ve always enjoyed the word blowsy and assumed it referred to a messy, gregarious woman with unkempt hair. But when I encountered it in the very fine novel The […]
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Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Do you struggle with being alone? If you’re a writer, it’s essential to learn how to work alone… I enjoy meeting people. I’m cheerful and friendly. I love chatting with friends. I never fear speaking in front of an audience. These are all characteristics of an extrovert. But, but…. If
Reading time: Just over 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 about F. Scott Fitzgerald… Writers need coddling. I learned that first as an editor, when I became the
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Just because you work in communications doesn’t mean you need to be a slacker. Here’s why writers and communicators need to stay fit… One of the things I’ve noticed about people who work in communications is that they concentrate more on their jobs than on themselves. Long hours? No
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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 similes and metaphors from Jonathan Lee… The novel High Dive has an arresting plot. It’s the fictionalized re-telling of an attempt to kill British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984, while she was attending a Conservative Party
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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: ferrule… After hearing a radio interview with author Jonathan Lee I decided his novel, High Dive, would interest me. The book is a fictionalized re-telling of the 1984 attempt
Reading time: Just over 2 minutes You might want to write a book, a thesis, or a big report but you’ve lost your steam with long-term project motivation. Here’s how to get it back… Imagine that you’re a farmer. First, you need to select your crops. Then you must prepare your land. Then, sow your
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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 a blog post with advice from Umberto Eco… Umberto Eco, who died earlier this year at the age of 84, was
Umberto Eco: Be a corporal first… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Being creative can also be messy. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a plan or a process to rely upon. Here’s how Walt Disney approached creative thinking… I’ve written before about the six thinking hats of Edward de Bono. But did you know that Walt Disney developed another
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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 New York Times columnist Frank Bruni… I had resolved not to write another word about Donald Trump but New York Times columnist Frank Bruni has
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