Reading time: About 6 minutes (but easily scannable) Here are my 10 favourite articles or posts from last month, focusing on the most useful, helpful and healthful pieces for writers. It’s pumpkin season here in North America, with shortening days, cooler temperatures and more rain. As my husband and I […]
PubCoach top 10: October 2020 Read More »
I have a friend who used to set the most wildly ambitious goals for herself. Whenever she did this, I’d mildly observe that perhaps she’d be better off choosing more realistic objectives. Her response? She said something like, “I just like to give myself something really challenging to aim for. And I’ll be so delighted
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Reading time: About 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 Elena Ferrante… I have not yet read any of the famous Neopolitan Novels by the pseudonymous Italian novelist Elena Ferrante. Instead, following
The figurative language of Elena Ferrante…. 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: afflatus… I’ve been reading a lot about Ayad Akhtar lately. An American-born playwright, novelist, and screenwriter of Pakistani heritage who received the
What does ‘afflatus’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 4 minutes Has it ever crossed your mind that you might need a literary executor? Here is some advice all writers should consider… I had a grandmother I never knew. She died before I was born — before my mother had even married — but she
Do you need a literary executor? Read More »
When I was in high school English class, my teacher instructed us all to avoid repetition. Too bad she insisted on this rule with dialogue tags for short stories, as well. You know what I mean by a dialogue tag, right? “That’s what I hope for,” he said. The he said part is the dialogue
Why you should stick with the word ‘said’ 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 finding enough to do… Do you have enough to do during the
Do you have enough to do? 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 and similes from Megha Majumdar… When Megha Majumdar (pictured above) wrote her debut novel, she was working as an editor at Catapult
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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: brachiated…. The word brachiated is an interesting one. I recently encountered it in Elizabeth McCracken’s amusing novel, Bowlaway. Here is how she
What does ‘brachiated’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Are you doing enough stuff that is purposeless, fun and pleasurable? If not, perhaps you need to add more play to your life… I’ve always disliked playing cards and most games. Monopoly? Boring and it takes too long. Candyland? I played way too many rounds
Why we all need to add more play to our lives Read More »
