Word count: 728 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Succeeding at something is not just because of what you do — it also stems from what you DON’T do. Here are nine ideas you need to give up to become a better writer… This is a short list of ideas you should give up […]
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Word count: 720 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes A bag of hammers typically refers to something that’s dumb or stupid. But I prefer Michael J. Fox’s definition — he takes it to mean anything that makes our lives more difficult…. I’m not generally a star-struck kind of person but I’ve admired Michael J.
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Word count: 228 words 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 writers. Today I discuss a series of photographs of young writers recently posted on Buzzfeed… When I was 20, I thought I
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Word count: 247 words Reading time: About 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. Today, I write about a sentence by Lucy Grealy. Lucy Grealy wrote deeply moving memoir, Autobiography of a Face, as I
The cruelty of children is immense… 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 simile from the late Lucy Grealy. I first learned about the late poet Lucy Grealy several years ago when reading Ann Patchet’s book, Truth and Beauty. I wasn’t terribly impressed
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Word count: 232 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: buoyant. I’m just guessing, but I probably learned the adjective buoyant when I was in grade 3. (If that sounds too braggy, let me
Word count: 766 words Reading time: About 3 minutes If you don’t know how to handle quotes from your sources, your life as a corporate writer will likely be miserable. Check out my quick guide here…. My training as a writer came from newspapers. I started at a community weekly and then advanced to a
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Word count: 300 words 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 writers. Today I discuss a recent New York Times article written by Amy Shearn. I’m a working mother. In fact, I returned
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Word count: 237 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. Today’s comes from Will Ferguson… I wrote yesterday about the political-psychological thriller 419 by Will Ferguson, describing a simile he’d
They were taut-torsoed men… Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. Today I present a simile from Canadian writer Will Ferguson. I often start my day with a pitchfork, cleaning out my spam folder. Too often, the junk mails come from Nigeria, where they are also
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