Word count: 332 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 discuss the idea of quiet writing. I spend much of my life reading about writing. Few essays capture the […]
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Word count: 316 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute A great way to improve your writing skill is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate, this one from the book Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie. I received the book Joseph Anton for Christmas
There was a small enclosed space at the centre of his being Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I read widely, watch movies and listen to the radio. In today’s post you’ll see an interesting piece of figurative language from Joni Mitchell I’ve encountered recently. I still haven’t read any of Zadie Smith’s popular books, such as White Teeth, On Beauty or The Autograph Man, although I’ve had
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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: caparisoned. I was enjoying a coffee with a friend recently and she mentioned the book The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. Despite having been
What does caparisoned mean? Read More »
Word count: 716 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you make new year’s resolutions every year? Do any of them relate to writing? Here’s my advice for turbo-charging your resolutions. I’ve never smoked. Even as a sullen, rule-breaking, hitchhiking teenager, I never even tried it. I say this not to brag – more
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Word count: 348 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 write about the book The Political Speechwriter’s Companion. When I wrote about Robert Lehrman’s New York Times article on speechwriting,
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Word count: 299 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 is by Calvin Trillin. I’m not one of those people who eats to live. I freely admit
Sort of like bungee jumping… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I read widely, watch movies and listen to the radio. In today’s post you’ll see an interesting use of figurative language by Ken Auletta I encountered recently. What could be more noble than the task of eliminating cliches? While I’m not afraid to wield my red pen — on my
Instead of eliminating cliches, tweak them! Read More »
Word count: 213 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: otiose. Some words make me eager to learn what they mean. Otiose falls into that category. I discovered it in the book Straphanger by
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Word count: 670 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Dorothy Parker hated writing. But she “loved having written.” How do you feel about the process? Do you want to become a happy writer? When I walked home from a client meeting yesterday, I strolled in the dark along the shimmering streets of Broadway. Coloured lights
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