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
What does nacreous mean? Read More »
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
How to get smart about commenting on my blog Read More »
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 »
