Reading time: About 2 minutes Aaron Cully Drake is one of the rare writers who absolutely loves editing. Aaron Cully Drake doesn’t actually use his middle name — except in publishing — because people struggle to find the right spelling, so he doesn’t want to put that level of stress on someone he’s just met. […]
Reflections on writing with Aaron Cully Drake… Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes The NATO typo shows why we need to learn from our mistakes and not obsess over them… It was a jaw-dropping typo. And it appeared in an astonishing place — the New York Times. In a headline. It read: “A North American Treaty Organization Without America?” In fact, if you
The NATO typo, Jane Austen and why I’m not worried 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 New Yorker article written by Hallie Cantor….. I am a person of habit. Fortunate enough to have an annual subscription to
Writing advice from Hallie Cantor…. Read More »
Viewing time: 3 mins 34 secs The Write Question is a weekly video podcast about writing that I started in 2017 and that ran, more or less weekly, until April 2022. This is a republication of issue #207, which describes how to deal with supply chain problems in publishing. The post first ran on Nov.
How can you deal with supply chain problems in publishing? (video) 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 from Anna Wiener… There are few genres of books I enjoy more than a good memoir. So, when I heard positive reviews of Uncanny Valley by Anna
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Reading time: About 2 minutes Meg Todd has a motto for writing: Get it down as fast as you can, and then edit slowly. Meg Todd grew up in the Alberta prairies. Her novel, Most Grievous Fault, was released in the fall of 2025. Exit Strategies, her debut short story collection, was a finalist for both the
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Reading time: About 3 minutes Writing feels hard for many people. Check out my eight suggestions for dealing with that problem. I’m running a one-hour class on revising this week — perfect for writers who’ve taken courses with me before, though of course anyone can jump in. We’ll tackle structure, clarity and how to polish
Why writing feels hard (it’s not you — it’s the setup) Read More »
Reading time: Less than one 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 the writing speed of romance novelists. When I meet with new clients, I ask them to tell
Writing speed? 2,500 words per hour Read More »
Viewing time: 4 mins 53 secs The Write Question is a weekly video podcast about writing that I started in 2017 and that ran, more or less weekly, until April 2022. This is a republication of issue #206, which describes how to manage your memoir. The post first ran on Nov. 19/21. Transcript: How
How can you manage your memoir? (video) 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 similes from the American writer Curtis Sittenfeld…. I heard about novelist Curtis Sittenfeld thanks to the release of her 2020 book, an alternate political novel about the life of Hillary Clinton.
The figurative language of Curtis Sittenfeld Read More »
