Reading time: About 3 minutes It’s always hard to find enough time for all the things we want to do. But somehow it’s extra-difficult to find writing time. What, then, is the best time to write? I was born a night owl. I used to think 2 am was the perfect bedtime and I resented […]
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Word count: 271 words 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 writers. Today I discuss an article written in 2001 by the late Elmore Leonard. It embarrasses me to admit that I’ve never read
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Word count: 380 words Reading time: About 1.5 minutes A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I write today about one produced by Matthew B Crawford. One of my readers (so sorry — I can’t remember
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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 by Canadian author Don Gillmor. When I heard the title of the latest novel by Don Gillmor, Mount Pleasant, I immediately wanted to read it. Mount Pleasant is an
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Word count: 258 words 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: bathos. The first time I encountered the word bathos, while in university, I thought it was at typo for pathos. Pathetic, eh? What
Word count: 645 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Have you ever been asked to give a speech at a wedding? This post on how to write a wedding speech will give you a better idea about how to approach the task… My husband belongs to a family that has the best weddings. Although we
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Word count: 263 words 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 writers. Today I discuss an article on standing while you work, recently published by the Economist… I have a bad back. What started
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Word count: 215 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. That’s why, every week, I present a sentence that I’d happily imitate. I write today about one produced by Hendrik Hertzberg, in the New Yorker. Why is it so much fun
The great Weiner roast… Read More »
Word count: 286 words Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about an article on Lyme Disease by Michael Specter, published recently in the New Yorker. I can remember pulling a tick from the leg of one of my daughters
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Word count: 195 words 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: harmattan. When I first encountered the word harmattan, while reading Will Ferguson’s compelling novel 419, I had no idea what it meant. But
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