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: fo’c’s’le… I read the novel Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis because a friend highly recommended it and, to be honest, because it had won a couple of big awards […]
What’s a ‘fo’c’s’le’? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Has the handwritten thank you letter died a quiet death? If you were hoping the answer is yes, you’re wrong. The value of thank you notes is still significant to people who can help you… My mother seldom favoured arbitrary rules. I never had a curfew. She didn’t blink
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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 newspaper article about writing anxiety… If you ever feel anxiety about your writing or even the hint of a suspicion that
Are you riven with writing anxiety? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute When you’re faced with a challenging problem or something that’s difficult to write do you give up or do you keep trying? Rube Goldberg (1883 – 1970) was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor best known for his zany machines that attacked simple tasks in as complicated a fashion
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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: ontogeny… I discovered Ms Magazine when I was a teenager in the 1970s and I’ve long been interested in the work of Gloria Steinem. This year, however, when I read
What does ‘ontogeny’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Do you have bad writing habits? Check out this list and resolve to give yourself a fighting chance to become a much better — and more relaxed — writer… I never learned how to write when I was a journalist. My habits were already too dysfunctional. Years of higher
7 vexing habits guaranteed to wreck your writing 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 an interview with Leonard Cohen, who died last week at the age of 82….. I studied the poetry of Leonard Cohen
The ‘limited expression’ of Leonard Cohen… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute The prospect of human knowledge doubling may excite you or terrify you but be aware that it’s happening. Here is how smart writers might adapt to this prospect… I delivered another training workshop this week and, while waiting for my turn, I sat in the audience observing another presenter.
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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 metaphor from Peter Morgan. I am not what you’d call a monarchist. Nevertheless, I’m interested enough in the history of Queen Elizabeth II to have seen the movie The Queen (starring Helen
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes How often do you write? If you’re not a professional your writing habits may be weak and flabby. Here’s why you should write every day… Here are three things you almost certainly do every day: Sleep Eat food Drink water And here are three you likely do (or are nagged
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