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: pyknic…. Whenever I read an unusual-looking word, I often assume it is of Greek origin. The word pyknic from Olga Tokarczuk‘s marvellous …
What does the work ‘pyknic’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Time is precious. If you want to make time to write, it’s not hard. But you’re going to have be persistent and dedicated about it. My schedule is jam-packed. Each day I race between writing projects, meetings and necessary admin work that only I can …
How to make time to write – part 2 Read More »
Are you spending enough time thinking? In a recent blog post, Deep Work expert Cal Newport, meditated on a quote from Ernest Hemingway in which the writer said: “My working habits are simple: long periods of thinking, short periods of writing.” As a thoughtful academic, Newport reflected on his own …
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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 blog post about how to stop trying to do it all… Are you the type …
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Viewing time: 4 mins 32 secs The Write Question is a weekly video podcast all about writing. Today’s question? What about word counts? If you have a question you’d like me to answer you can email me, tweet me @pubcoach, or leave a message for me at the Skype account, …
What about word counts? 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 similes from Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk… Named as the winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Literature, Polish writer and activist Olga Tokarczuk …
The figurative language of Olga Tokarczuk… 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: everted…. I discovered the writing of Aminatta Forma earlier this year, thanks to the recommendation of a client. Her arresting and multi-layered …
What does the word ‘everted’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you know how important stories are to writing? Learn how to be a great storyteller… Our dishwasher broke last week. It was an expensive model — a Bosch — and only three years old so I was plenty peeved. Making matters worse, our …
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I often write about how we talk to ourselves, usually in a highly negative way, as in: My sentences are so boring. I’m a terrible writer. No one enjoys reading what I’m producing. My supervisor/editor/boss thinks I’m a loser. But I didn’t know, until I read a fabulous new book …
Talk better to yourself 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 why we stop writing…. Do you tell yourself lies about your writing? …
Why we stop writing… Read More »
