Word count: 150 words Reading time: half a minute I appreciated many of the fine novels by Ann Patchett, particularly, Bel Canto and deeply disliked only one, Run. I felt lukewarm, however, about her most recent book, State of Wonder. The plot was moderately engaging, and the writing moderately good. But even though the book offered […]
Ann Patchett and her state of wonder Read More »
Word count: 317 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute My Kindle died last week. Inconveniently, this occurred while I was out of town, on holiday and, thus, in read-like-a-maniac mode. (I usually try to finish a book a day while on holiday although am sometimes slowed down when I attack a particularly long tome, such as
The Kindle is dead, long live the Kindle! Read More »
Word count: 158 words Reading time: about 30 seconds 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, melisma. My husband, girls and I just returned from a spring break holiday that my son chose not to attend. (He
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Word count: 518 words Reading time: About 2 minutes Even when I don’t go looking for stories, I seem to fall over them. If you’re a writer, be sure to keep an eye out for them, too…. I took myself out for lunch following my blog launch. I wanted a bit of a walk, so
The power of the personal story Read More »
Word count: 195 words 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 writers. Today I introduce you to grammar girl Mignon Fogarty. I remember almost meeting Mignon Fogarty at a series of conferences last
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Word count: 209 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. It’s about the TV show The Good Wife. I always like a good legal procedural and the one I
The good wife has a helmet of hair Read More »
Word count: 145 words Reading time: half 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, nacreous. I remember being disappointed by the novel Faith by Jennifer Haigh. Even though Haigh clearly knows how to work a
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Word count: 563 words Reading time: Just over 2 minutes The idea of copying another writer may seem distasteful to you, but, trust me, you can learn a lot from the practice… * I didn’t cheat on exams when I was in high school. I restricted myself to reading novels tucked inside of textbooks. But
Why you should copy (a modest proposal) Read More »
Word count: 185 words 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 writers. Today, I focus on Study Hacks. The site I recommend this week, a blog, is one of my favourites. It’s called
Study hacks can also help writers Read More »
Word count: 150 words Reading time: about 30 seconds A great way to improve your writing skills is to emulate the work of others. Here is a sentence, about Arnold Schwarzenegger, I read recently that I’d happily imitate. A story, headlined “California and Bust” was written by Michael Lewis and ran in the November
Arnold Schwarzenegger profile packs a punch Read More »
