Reading time: Just over 3 minutes I'm sure you've read elsewhere that good writers are always good readers. Here are the reasons why.... A grade 2 teacher reported to my parents more than 50 years ago that I wasn’t reading enough. The reaction? It was like an alarm going off in a nuclear plant. My parents dusted off my library card and sent me to the Bookmobile (a portable library based... 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 an article on the space between sentences... I hesitate to reopen the debate about space between sentences. Many people feel strongly on the subject, as indeed do I. I'm a firm "one-space" person wh... Read More
I'm out of town for a few days, travelling on business. I'll be back at my desk, Monday, May 21. Have a great week!... Read More
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Social media gets a lot of attention these days, but you also need to know how to promote your writing without Facebook or Twitter. Here are some suggestions…. I watch my time like a mama bear guarding her cubs. I recently quit Facebook, and I constrain my Twitter time to no more than 10 minutes daily. (I provide my wonderful assistant, Laura, with my twee... Read More
Reading time: Just over 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 New York Times article about how to become a better storyteller.... Do you know how to tell a good story? When I work with writers, I frequently have to dissuade them from stuffing their articles or... Read More
Viewing time: 4 mins. 40 secs. The Write Question is a weekly video podcast all about writing. Today's question focuses on capturing family history. If you have a question you’d like me to answer you can email me at daphne@publicationcoach.com, tweet me @pubcoach, or leave a message for me at the Skype account, The Write Question. Welcome to The Write Question, I’m Daphne Gray-Grant... Read More
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similes from Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich.... A rivetting hybrid of murder mystery and memoir, The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (pictured above), was named one of the best books of the 2017 by Entertainment Weekly, Audible.c... Read More
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That's why I provide a word of the week. Today's word: irenic.... I feel especially happy whenever I discover a word I've never seen before. What can it possibly mean, I wonder? And what are the origins of that word? Vinson Cunningham, a writer for the New Yorker, gave me such a wor... Read More
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you ever ponder the writing rituals of famous authors? Pondering is okay, but don't use their habits as a model for your own behaviour.... Did you know that Sylvia Plath (pictured above) and Benjamin Franklin started their writing days at 4 am and 5 am, respectively? Oliver Sacks was also a morning lark (5 am) as were Margaret Mead and Immanuel Kant. ... 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 by Chris Bailey.... I'm a longtime fan of productivity expert Chris Bailey (pictured above). He's Canadian, like me, but that's not why I like him. I have a theory that we are twins who wer... Read More
