Word count: 758 words Reading time: About 3 minutes If your son or daughter — or you — needs to learn how to write an essay or a shortish report, here is a column you might want to copy and tape to your fridge…. It’s a red-letter day in my household. […]
How to write an essay without losing your mind Read More »
Word count: 262 words Reading time: 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. I had just finished reading an excellent New Yorker profile of Bruce Sprinsteen when a friend sent
What you can learn from the man who wrote a Bruce Springsteen profile Read More »
Word count: 286 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute The best way to improve your writing skills is to emulate the work of others. For this reason I regularly write down sentences I’ve picked up in my own recent reading. Here is one by Patrick deWitt. The positive buzz
The sound the water made was like a voice…. Read More »
Word count: 323 words Reading time: Just over 1 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. I figure I hit my 10,000 hours of writing a couple of years ago. But
How Malcolm Gladwell helps writers Read More »
Word count: 293 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute If you build your vocabulary, you’ll not only benefit your reading, you’ll also become more precise in your writing. Here is my word of the week, carapace. When I started reading the novel The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
What’s a carapace? Read More »
Word count: 496 words Reading time: Less than 2 minutes Let me give you the reasons why you shouldn’t be terribly eager to accept the label “good writer.” Our society is pretty funny (funny-strange, not funny-ha-ha) when it comes to the word “good.” This one-syllable, four-letter word is both vague
Are you a good writer? (I hope not!) Read More »
Word count: 691 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes I know this will make me sound horribly old-fashioned, but I’ve been convinced that all writers — even non-fiction ones — should read poetry. Here’s why…. My relationship with poetry has been troubled. It didn’t start well. When I was
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Word count: 752 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Here are some writing tips if you ever need to change your style…. I remember walking by my daughter’s bedroom some four years ago and catching her at her computer, weeping. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” I asked with concern. “I c-c-c-can’t write
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Word count: 234 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute The best way to improve your writing skills is to emulate the work of others. For this reason I regularly write down sentences I’ve picked up in my own recent reading. Here is one by Michael Ondaatje. Although I liked
Sleep is a prison… Read More »
Word count: 203 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute Every week, I tell you about a book or a piece of technology for writers. Today I focus on a terrific organizational tool, Shovebox… Do you have a junk drawer anywhere in your house? You know what I mean —
Take this Shovebox and use it! Read More »
