Reading time: Less than 2 minutes Looking for the secrets of how to write a better speech? Here are two key ones… I coach a debating team at my local high school. I LOVE this volunteer job because it allows me to connect with teenagers and it lets me teach them a […]
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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 simile from Frances Itani. Frances Itani is a Canadian fiction writer, poet and essayist who has published 14 books. Her 2012 title Remembering the Bones, was shortlisted for a Commonwealth Award. Her 2004
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Reading time: About 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 novelist Zadie Smith’s 10 rules of writing. I read and was impressed by Zadie Smith’s 2000 novel
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Reading time: About 1 minute Here’s a handy tip for how to get better work out of illustrators… On behalf of my clients, I work with a graphic artist I really appreciate. Not only is he fast and reliable, he can also illustrate — a talent not in the quiver
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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: caterwauling. I think I’ve known since grade 5 that the term caterwauling means a long,wailing cry, usually heard on streets. What I hadn’t realized is
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Reading time: Just over 3 minutes As a dedicated reader of blogs, I stumble across lists like “The 15 ways to….” all the time. Here’s some advice on how to write better lists. Readers like blog posts containing lists. You know: The 7 habits of highly effective writers Top 10 ways
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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 book written by the scholar Steven Pinker. I read and enjoyed Steven Pinker’s 2003 book How
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Reading time: About 1.5 minutes Can plain English be good enough for a medical article? You bet it can! Full disclosure: When my children were young, Dr. Alisa Lipson was their pediatrician. While I don’t know her beyond those brief interactions, I always found her to be cheerful, smart, sympathetic and,
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Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor from Ian McEwan… I’m a longtime fan of writer Ian McEwan. I found Atonement to be his best book ever, and I also appreciated Sweet Tooth. I
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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: meniscus…. I am obsessed with food memoirs. So obsessed that I’m writing one myself. And part of my research is reading even
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