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 Calvin Trillin… I can no longer remember the first time I tasted fresh mozzarella but I think I was about 25. It was a life-changing moment. The freshness! […]
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Reading time: Just over 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: paresis. I almost tried to write today’s post in rhyming couplets. This is because my word of the week comes from the marvellous rhyming novel Love, Dishonour, Marry,
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you ever feel overwhelmed when you need to write? Here are some suggestions for how to improve your focus… As I write this column, I’m feeling overwhelmed. Why? I just said goodbye to a contractor who carved a hole in our dining-room ceiling. He was investigating a leak
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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 of interest to other writers. Today I discuss an article written by Clay Shirkey. I began my working life in newspapers. My parents owned a struggling weekly and
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Reading time: About 1.5 minutes Have you ever thought of hiring a professional proofreader? Here’s why you should take the idea seriously…. I work with many clients who — in addition to having me write or edit — also hire me to coordinate their various suppliers. These might include graphic artists, printers, WordPress experts, filmmakers
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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 simile from Emily Nussbaum… Here’s one of the reasons I read The New Yorker each week. It allows me to learn about things I would never in a million years otherwise know. For example: online
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Reading time: About 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: helter-skelter… I’ve known the meaning of the adverb and adjective helter-skelter for at least 45 years. It means something done in a haphazard manner or with undue haste or confusion.
What’s a helter-skelter? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Have you ever thought of the value of self-talk? I’d always seen it as a liability but there are ways in which it can help you… I adore open-area offices. When I started working in a newsroom 30 years ago — with a hundred reporters and editors, each with
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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 an article written by Tim Kreider. I hadn’t heard of Tim Kreider until I regularly started reading the New York Times Opinionator
Not necessarily shown to your best advantage… Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Do you ever get tense over tenses? I’m talking about verb tenses— and the the time or state they express. But, honestly, there’s no need to get upset… Most of us know that there are present, past and future tenses and we can identify them pretty easily. Fewer people know
Do verbs make you tense? Read More »
