Reading time: Less than 5 minutes Here are my 10 favourite articles or posts from last month, focusing on the most useful, helpful and entertaining pieces for writers. The days are getting longer in the Northern hemisphere and I’m usually surprised by how quickly it happens. One evening I’m reading […]
Pubcoach top 10: April 2021 Read More »
Most writing coaches or teachers will tell you to avoid clichés — those hackneyed expressions like “tall, dark and handsome” or “as red as a rose” that seem to tumble from our lips as carelessly as a soother falls out of an exhausted baby’s mouth. Now, readers and clients have occasionally told me they find
Why and how to attack clichés 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 the magic of three…. From the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary,
Why you should embrace the magic of three 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 James Nestor…. James Nestor (pictured above) is an American journalist who has written for Scientific American, Outside Magazine, The New York
The figurative language of James Nestor… 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: foehn wind…. A literary murder mystery, by Olga Tokarczuk — winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Literature — contains several interesting
What does the term ‘foehn wind’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 4 minutes If you’re someone who’s easily distracted, learning how to focus when writing will give you a big payoff in productivity… Do you ever sit at your computer and find the prospect of writing to be defeating you? You know you need to work on
How to focus when writing Read More »
Allie Jaynes (pictured above) was the type of 36-year-old you might call a “hot mess.” She was scattered, disorganized and a world traveler who lost her passport regularly. I recently listened to a radio documentary about her and her diagnosis with ADHD as an adult. (Her story grabbed my attention because my son has the
Three lessons for writers in a story about procrastination 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 it’s important not to overwork…. When I was a newspaper editor,
Why it’s important not to overwork 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: 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 »
