Reading time: Less than 2 minutes 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: henid. I love learning new words! Some writers — such as Alice Gregory — make the task especially easy by including definitions of […]
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
Feel like you’re wasting time with your crappy first draft? Here’s how to find out… Read More »
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
In defence of books on paper Read More »
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
Who cares about “who”? 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 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
The figurative language of Alexandra Fuller… 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: dilatory… Are you too dilatory in your writing? I encountered the word dilatory in my recent reading. It appeared in the book Birdsong
What does dilatory mean? Read More »
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
Why stories are so important Read More »
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
Why yes side is running out of track 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 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
The figurative language of Katherine Ashenburg… Read More »
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
What does sententious mean? Read More »
