Daphne Gray-Grant, Author at Publication Coach

Feel like you’re wasting time with your crappy first draft? Here’s how to find out…

Reading time: About 3 minutes People often suggest to me that they’ll be wasting time if they allow themselves to write without editing while they go. Here’s why I disagree… Whenever I talk about the crappy first draft or writing first and editing later some people always object. Last week, when I ran a webinar for a group […]

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In defence of books on paper

Reading time: About 2 minutes 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 in defence of books on paper… I’m a dedicated reader who zips through at least 52 books each year and a

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Who cares about “who”?

Reading time: Less than 1 minute Here’s why I care about correct use of the pronoun who — and why you should care, too… I try not to be outraged by simple grammatical errors. I grew up in a household where my father heaped scorn on people who didn’t speak correctly. As a result, I

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The figurative language of Alexandra Fuller…

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 handful of similes and metaphors from Alexandra Fuller… I used to belong to a book club and one of the first works we devoured was the 2003 memoir Don’t Let’s Go to the

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What does dilatory mean?

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: dilatory… Are you too dilatory in your writing? I encountered the word dilatory in my recent reading. It appeared in the book Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. Here’s how

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Why stories are so important

Reading time: About 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 on why stories are so important by Mathilda Harris… I regularly lead workshops for corporate communicators on how to write better, faster. One

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Why yes side is running out of track

Reading time: About 2 minutes When the votes are counted in the BC transit plebiscite, I fear the answer is going to be a resounding no… A mail-in vote — a plebiscite — is being held now in Greater Vancouver, where I live. Citizens are voting on whether they’re willing to pay a 0.5 per cent

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The figurative language of Katherine Ashenburg…

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 Katherine Ashenburg… California has enacted water restrictions for the first time in state history. For some cities — such as Sacramento — this will mean cutting water usage by up to 35 percent.

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What does sententious mean?

Reading time: About 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: sententious. I’d avoided the book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly — by Jean-Dominique Bauby (pictured above) — for years. As a survivor of two strokes, I didn’t want

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Lessons from writing a thesis

Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Do you need to learn how to write a thesis? Here’s some advice from someone who’s just finished the job… I can’t begin to calculate how many words I’ve written in my life. If forced to give a total, I’d say well over a million. But I can tell

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Daphne Gray-Grant