Reading time: Less than 4 minutes I know this may sound crazy, but, for writers, the benefits of boredom outweigh its downsides…. I’m going to ask you to do something difficult. I’d like you to stop seeing boredom as automatically undesirable, bad or negative. Instead, I ask you to see […]
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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 metaphors from Cathleen Schine…. I learned about Cathleen Schine’s 2019 novel in an interview — not with her, but with author Gish Jen
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I’ve had sleep problems for most of my life even though I’m lucky enough to need fewer ZZZs than many people (seven hours is usually plenty for me). Back when I was in high school/university, and a chronic procrastinator, I’d use my relatively low sleep need to stay up half the night writing essays. I
Are you getting enough sleep for writing? 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 metaphors and similes from Tarquin Hall…. I’ll be honest. I never thought I’d read a novel with the words “love commandos” in the
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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: schist… My uncle was a geologist but I never even took a basic overview course while in school. (A die-hard ‘artsie,’ I
Reading time: About 4 minutes The tuxedos, the fancy ball gowns and the red carpet: what else could it be but the peak of the awards season, the Oscars? I’m not wearing Swarovski crystals to present these awards for the best articles or pots I read this month. But on
PubCoach Top 10: February 2020 Read More »
I recently wrote a blog post about 10 books that changed my life. One work that didn’t make the list but that probably should have was James Clear’s very fine book Atomic Habits. (I didn’t include it because I’d already named two other books with the word ‘habit’ in the title, and because I thought
Why small habits make a big difference Read More »
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 Amy Waldman… I was such an enormous fan of Amy Waldman’s first novel, I resolved to read her next book as soon
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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: tamasha…. I don’t typically read murder mysteries, particularly not ones in a series, which I often find a bit too predictable for
What does ‘tamasha’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 5 minutes Do you find music helps you to write or are the sounds of silence more golden to your ears? Here’s what science has to say about background music while writing…. When I was a child, my mother strictly limited our television viewing. In the
Are the sounds of silence helpful or harmful to writers? Read More »
