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 Hector Tobar… Over my summer holidays I read the novel The Barbarian Nurseries by Hector Tobar, a Los Angeles-based writer and journalist. The story of an entitled California family […]
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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: kerfuffe… I read the novel Death in Summer — a sort of a mystery with more emphasis on human emotion rather than plot twists — by William Trevor in
What’s the origin of the word kerfuffle? Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes You may hate being predictable but did you know there are typical sticking points for writers? And my guess is that you’re facing more than one of them… I’ve spent years trying to get my financial books to my bookkeeper earlier than January 31. Mostly, I haven’t succeeded. Last week,
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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 an article on brevity in writing that appeared recently in the Prospero blog… From 1992 until 1999 The Economist published a monthly column on the English
Lauding brevity in writing Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute Have you ever had to be involved with a corporate video? Here are five suggestions that will help you achieve a better result… I worked at a videotaping session last week — not for anything remotely Hollywood-ish or even corporate — but instead for a new non-profit society. They were
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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 two metaphors from Julian Barnes. The best book I read this summer was a true but fictionalized account of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) and his real-life efforts to release
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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: halcyon. I had never known the shameful story of the Hungarian Gold Train until I read Ayelet Waldman’s striking 2014 novel, Love and Treasure. Operating during the Second World
What’s the root of the word halcyon? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Frank Sinatra began his musical career as a boy singer with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. But did you know he ended it as a writing inspiration coach? Read on… I’m a longtime fan of Frank Sinatra. Almost incredibly, so are my 21-year-old triplets. One of their babysitters used
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Reading time: Just over 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 New York Times article by Stephen King… I’ve never been a fan of horror. But even though the genre doesn’t appeal
Stephen King questions the productivity of novelists 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 metaphor from Emily Gould… I read Emily Gould’s novel, Friendship, under false pretences. Somehow I thought she was the daughter of Stephen Jay Gould, author of Ever Since Darwin and many other
The figurative language of Emily Gould… Read More »
