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: cagoule. I seldom encounter words that offer me terra incognita. But a word in the very fine novel, Landing Gear, by Kate Pullinger, took
Reading time: About 3 minutes My husband and I recently returned from a three-week trip to Europe. Here is part 3 of a three-part series on each of the cities we visited. Today I focus on Vienna with a piece on the importance of accepting help from others. (Part 1, on Amsterdam, and part
Do you let others help you (write)? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 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 a terrific new book written by Phyllis Rose… Anyone who knows me is aware that my nose is
Adventures in extreme reading Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute Kris Bulcroft doesn’t look as harsh as her sculpture suggests. But she doesn’t behave with the authority of a really smart leader either… Here’s a basic rule about leadership: If you have thin skin, stay out of the business. Kris Bulcroft, president and vice-chancellor of Capilano
A portrait crossed with a ventriloquist’s dummy Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about an effective — and amusing — metaphor from Janet Maslin. I pay $3.82 per week for a digital subscription to the New York Times. To me, it’s
The figurative language of Janet Maslin… 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: marmoreal. I’ve never read anything by William S. Burroughs, not even Naked Lunch (1959), but when flipping through a stack of my beloved New
What does marmoreal mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes My husband and I recently returned from a three-week trip to Europe. Here is part 2 of a three-part series on each of the cities we visited. Today I focus on Prague with a piece on the importance of separating writing and editing. (Part 1, on Amsterdam, is
Writing advice from the Czech president 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 an article headlined, “A Tiny Good Deed Can Go a Long Way”…. The article I want to
The surprising results of tiny good deeds… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes Does your company ever need to hire writer? Here are some tips on how to help writers succeed… I recently accepted a contract with a small communications firm. They wanted me to write some stories that perfectly fit the style I best like to
How to help writers succeed 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 the metaphorical efforts of Tom Rachman. The book The Imperfectionists earned a spot on my top 10 list of novels for 2010. It stunned me that a first-time novelist
The figurative language of Tom Rachman… Read More »
