Reading time: Less than 3 minutes What do you do when Hemingway needs help? Call another editor! Do you know the proverb, ‘two heads are better than one’? In addition to applying to life, you should also be aware it governs editing apps. Even good ones, like the Hemingway editor. I counsel just about everyone […]
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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 by Phil Cooke… Do you know the answer to the question, how do you eat an elephant? It’s: One bite at
Work when you don’t feel like it Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute Not all copying is dishonest and a bad idea (as in the photograph, above). If you do it right, the value of copying can be enormous… When I edited a cookbook more than three decades ago — my first entry into the professional book publishing business — I learned
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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 simile from Hilma Wolitzer… The book, A Story Larger Than My Own, edited by Janet Burroway, carries the intriguing subtitle: Women Writers Look Back on Their Lives and Careers. A collection of essays by a
Words fall off and roll out of sight… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do struggle to find enough time for reading? Here are five tips for how to read more books. After I published last week’s blog post about the books I’ve read so far this year, emails started flooding my inbox. “How do you possibly read so much?” people wondered. “Where on
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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 Guardian article about the value of plot… I wrote a piece, many years ago, for an online magazine, in which
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Reading time: less than 1 minute Do you overcommit yourself? Regularly take on too much work? Have a “to do” list that manages you (instead of you managing it?) Here’s how to get better to do lists… I love my “to do” list but some days it grows to monstrous proportions. I readily admit that
How to develop better ‘to do’ lists… Read More »
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 metaphor from Rebecca Solnit… If you’re familiar with my blog you’ll know that I am an inveterate walker. Not only do I always walk to get my groceries, go to the library
Three notes suddenly making a chord… 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: porcine… I don’t know that I’ve ever used the word porcine, but when my colleague John Friesen emailed me about it, I knew what it meant. You can
What does ‘porcine’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes Looking for some recommended books in time for summer reading? Here’s my semi-annual roundup of books I’ve read so far this year. I aim to read 52 books every 12 months and my habit is to post a complete list of the names of them for you, in June and December.
Recommended books: summer 2016 Read More »