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 »
Word count: 162 words Reading time: about half a minute Some readers have had a hard time figuring out how to post comments to my blog. Here’s how you can get smart about the whole thing. (Apologies to Don Adams who played Maxwell Smart on the show.) 1. Once you’re on the blog page, scroll
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Word count: 209 words Reading time: less than 1 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, netsuke. Today’s word comes from a book I’ve just finished reading: The Hare With the Amber Eyes by Edmund du Waal.
What is a netsuke? Read More »
Word count: 765 words Reading time: About 3 minutes It’s taken me a year of work, but, at last, I’ve replaced my old website with this brand new blog. Please, check it out… This will make me sound old-fashioned, or maybe just old, but I can recall when the TV universe could be contained by
Hey, please check out my new blog! Read More »
Word count: 725 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Although H.L. Mencken felt that “criticism is prejudice made plausible,” I believe all writers can learn from criticism they receive. Here’s how: How are you at handling criticism? I don’t mean comments about your driving or your housework or your management style. And I particularly don’t mean
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Reading time: About 3 minutes Here’s why I insist that you spend some of your writing time, NOT writing, but instead incubating…. When I was a callow teenager and completed my honours political science thesis in June 1979, I finished it only because my professor declined to give me another extension. Although this made me
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Word Count: 732 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Want to improve your writing? Stop doing these 17 things! Negative writing tips, I find, can be just as helpful as a positive ones. And, often, they’re far more memorable. Here, then are 17 things you should stop doing immediately, if you want to improve your
17 things to STOP doing to improve your writing Read More »
Word count: 750 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you know your writing angle? I’m not talking geometry here. My “angle” comes from journalism. But the term is important for ALL types of writing… Early in my newspaper career, when I worked at a neighbourhood weekly, my heart suffered a vicious little stab whenever I
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