Reading time: About 2 minutes When struggling with writing, Natalie Southworth will sometimes tie her Ethernet cable into a complicated knot to keep herself off the internet… Originally from England, Natalie Southworth has lived all over Canada, where her stories take place, and today she lives with her husband and […]
Reflections on writing with Natalie Southworth… Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you feel you’re getting worse at writing? No! It’s an optical illusion brought on by your increasing skills…. Last spring, a client of mine had been writing for about eight months. Every day, or close to it, she logged brief sessions, nothing heroic. She
Why you think you’re getting worse at writing (when you’re not) Read More »
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 other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about how to get better selling writing…. Most writers know that the secret
How to do better selling your writing Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors from writer Alix Ohlin… While on vacation several years ago, I picked up a novel by Canadian writer Alix Ohlin, from a
Alix Ohlin’s figurative language…. Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Edythe Anstey Hanen takes inspiration from the words of Toni Morrison: “Don’t try to write through it, to force it…Just wait, it will come…” The short fiction of Edythe Anstey Hanen has been published in literary magazines, anthologies and in the Globe & Mail, National
Reflections on writing with Edythe Anstey Hanen… Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you suffer from the illusion of explanatory depth? Also known as the confidence trap, this error confuses familiarity with understanding…. Ask someone how a zipper works. Not in a vague way. Ask them to explain it — the teeth, the slider, the mechanism that
The confidence trap: why we think we understand more than we do Read More »
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 other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about readability statistics… I’m usually amused when people first learn about readability statistics.
How seriously should you take readability statistics? Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes and metaphors from Nell Stevens… I’m not a fan of ghost stories. But I appreciate well-written historical fiction. And I also like the writing of Nell
The figurative language of Nell Stevens… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute If she doesn’t manage to write on a given day, Lucille Guarino tries not to be too hard on herself. Sometimes, she’ll even give herself a pass, she says. The author of Elizabeth’s Mountain, and Lunch Tales: Suellen Lucille Guarino lives in Lexington, South Carolina
Reflections on writing with Lucille Guarino… Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you wince when you hear about the success of other writers? It’s likely you’re just suffering from availability bias… You’ve probably never heard of the availability bias. But it’s been running most of our writing lives for years. Here’s how it works: When we
Availability bias is lying to you about your writing Read More »
