Word count: 312 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute Need help? Here I tell you about a piece of software or a website for writers. Call me old fashioned but I’m a big fan of radio. Or, more correctly, a big fan of the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC)– our beleagured equivalent to US National […]
Add some Spark to your life Read More »
Word count: 237 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing skills is to emulate the work of others. Here is a sentence I read recently that I’d happily imitate. I’ve never been a huge fan of Ernest Hemingway. Perhaps that’s why it took me longer than I’d
The lack of him had moved in with me Read More »
Word count: 265 words Reading time: About 1 minute Building your vocabulary is always a good idea. It benefits your reading and it also helps you be more specific and precise in your writing. Here is my word of the week, fecklessly. Even a book you don’t like very much can teach you something. A
What does fecklessly mean? Read More »
Word count: 637 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes How are you doing in the praise department? Are you getting enough? It’s something all writers need… I’m shopping for a Toastmaster’s group right now. This isn’t because I’m scared of public speaking and I’m not particularly bad at it. I simply want to keep my
A writing lesson from Toastmasters Read More »
Word count: 279 words Reading time: Just over a minute If you’ve read my book, you’ll understand that I’m a zealot for readability statistics. These handy dandy numbers rate the readability of your writing. How do readability statistics work? Well, the various indices look at the length of words, sentences and paragraphs and the volume
Incredibly useful: readability statistics Read More »
Word count: 204 Reading time: Less than a minute Every Friday I present a sentence of the week I’ve discovered in my reading. Reading closely will help you become a better writer. I must fall into the 1% of the population that has never seen the James Cameron movie, The Titanic. This wasn’t so much
How to craft a Titanic sentence Read More »
Word count: 218 Reading time: Less than a minute Today I discuss how a small, easy to use digital recorder might be able to help your writing. If you’re a writer, you need some way of recording your voice while you walk. I now use my iPhone, which makes recording delightfully easy, but I realize
Could you use a digital recorder while you walk? Read More »
Word count: 261 words Reading time: About a minute If you increase your vocabulary you’ll not only help your reading, you’ll also make your writing more precise. Here is my word of the week, emended. I speak a tiny bit of French, badly, so I always admire people who are able to use more than
Word count: 641 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes You probably know the Aesop tale about the tortoise and the hare. I think it offers an important tip about why you shouldn’t write too much at once…. Do you ever set aside an entire afternoon for writing? Or, better yet, what about a whole weekend?
Why you shouldn’t write too much at once Read More »
Word count: 221 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute If I hadn’t earned a degree in political science when I went to university, I would have chosen to study psychology. The subject fascinates me — as it should any writer or entrepreneur. If you want to write effectively, you need to think about what
The power of psychology for writers Read More »
