Word count: 242 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: autodidact. Gun stories sadden me. Gun stories that occur on a university campus seem even more deplorable. New […]
What’s an autodidact? Read More »
Word count: 767 words Reading time: About 3 minutes When I use the phrase “expressing yourself,” I’m making a pun. Today’s column is about my recent Battle Royale with American Express…. I’ve been fighting a guerrilla war with American Express since last November. On the theory that my experience might
Do you have difficulty expressing yourself? Read More »
Word count: 329 words Reading time: About 1.5 minutes 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 write about a blog post that warned self-published authors about troubles with Amazon. I was
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Word count: 254 words Reading time: About 1 minute A great way to improve your writing skills 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 American novelist Jennifer Egan. As soon as I heard the name
The scramble of her heartbeat… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. Today’s comes from Ransom Riggs. I don’t normally read fantasy. It’s not a genre that appeals to me and I try to focus my cherished reading time on material that
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Word count: 197 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: relict. I’m not usually stumped by natural history signs, but when I was recently wandering the Mojave Desert
What does relict mean? Read More »
Word count: 661 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Do you ever take a holiday from your writing? Here’s why you should consider it…. I just participated in a 10-day, two-person workshop designed to improve my writing. It required me to take a plane to a different country and it
Time to take a break? Read More »
Word count: 338 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes 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 link to an article about writing memoir by Alexander Stille from The New York Times.
The perils of writing memoir Read More »
Word count: 234 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing skills 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 Alice Munro. If I could write like anyone, anyone, I’d
A dismal sort of longing… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. Today’s comes from Cheryl Strayed, author of the memoir, Wild. I’d heard nothing but rave reviews about Wild by Cheryl Strayed. “I couldn’t put it down,” said one friend. “How I
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