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: ensorcelled…. I read the New York Times on my cellphone each day and get a great deal of pleasure out of the […]
What does ‘ensorcelled’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Are you familiar with the phrase urgency bias? It’s governing your life and you need to stop it in its tracks if you want to write. When you hear that something is “urgent” how does that make you feel? Worried? Anxious? Sweaty? Panicked? According
How I deal with “urgency bias” so it doesn’t wreck my writing plans Read More »
You have signed up for a writing program with me. Here is an initial “how to” post, offering guidance for how to get the most out of this program. Understand that writing is NOT the only goal: If you’re ready to write, that’s great. But if you’re not, that’s also fine. You can use accountability
READ THIS FIRST: How to develop a sustainable writing habit – Part 1 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: menhir… Most of us have vocabularies that are highly specific. They often reveal the places in which we live. Circular intersections were
Reading time: About 4 minutes If you’ve ever thought of pursuing a freelance writing career, learn the steps you need to take to make yourself a more successful freelancer. I was 25 years old when I sold my first article to a national magazine. It took me about three years
10 ways to make yourself a more successful freelancer Read More »
I’ve been working on the video below for months now, trying to synch it with a PowerPoint slide deck about mindmapping that I spent many hours creating. The first four times I tried to do it, the recording didn’t work. Last week, I decided to try again and I discovered the video software I’d been
The ultimate ‘how to mindmap’ video 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: aureate… Reading the book Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar has been a vocabulary-building exercise for me. Last week I learned the word
What does ‘aureate’ mean? Read More »
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
Don’t shoot for the moon 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 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 »
