Word count: 289 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute A great way to improve your writing skills is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. Today’s comes from Rebecca Mead via The New Yorker. I’m a big believer […]
The lighting was persuasively unflattering… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. Today’s comes from Emily Nussbaum, via the New Yorker. My son and I spent many happy hours watching The West Wing. I loved that talky, realistic, dramatic show, about one of
The figurative language of Emily Nussbaum… Read More »
Word count: 243 words 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: trilby. I had a Danish boyfriend when I was young and I learned a little about the culture but
Word count: 756 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Being called a copycat is generally an insult. Instead, I think it’s a valuable tool for writers to try… If you’d been able to sneak into my home office last Wednesday at 6:15 am, you would have found me hunched over
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Word count: 440 words Reading time: About 1.5 minutes This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help writers. Today, I discuss John Lehrer’s apology for plagiarism. I was a longtime fan of Jonah Lehrer. I
Word count: 267 words Reading time: About 1 minute A great way to improve your writing skills is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. Today’s comes from Michael Specter in the New York Times. I’ve never much liked
Oz is fifty-two and jauntily fit… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. Today’s comes from John Medina, author of Brain Rules. I’m the kind of person who aced English and Social Studies classes while in high school — and passed Science and Math
The figurative language of John Medina… Read More »
Word count: 232 words 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: lèse-majesté . I was in grade 6 when Richard Nixon was elected to office. I was too young for
What does lese-majeste mean? Read More »
Word count: 641 words How did you fall in love with writing? Here is my story…. I’ve sounded off many times about the difficulties I’ve had with writing – the horror of producing my honours’ thesis, my mean Scottish editor, and my struggle to stop editing while I wrote. But
How did you fall in love with writing? Read More »
Word count: 271 words 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 writers. Today, I look at a new book on introverts. If you’re a writer you might want
The power of introverts Read More »
