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: balustrade. I’ve known for years — decades, even — that the group of spindles underneath the railing in
What’s a balustrade? Read More »
Word count: 626 words Reading time: About 2 and a half minutes Do you avoid your work because you fear a link between negative emotions and writing? If so, you’re likely losing the chance to achieve something really meaningful. I recently spent five days camping in the San Juan Islands
How to weather the rain in your writing life Read More »
Word count: 481 words Reading time: Less than 2 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 discuss an article written by journalist Roy Peter Clark. I’ve long admired the writing
The short sentence as gospel truth Read More »
Word count: 274 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. I comment today on a sentence written by Ian McEwan. I’m a big fan of
Beyond the tinnitus hiss of silence… Read More »
Word count: 318 words 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 trio of effective metaphors from novelist Tan Twan Eng. Malaysian writer Tan Twan Eng had his first novel, The Gift of Rain, long-listed
The figurative language of Tan Twan Eng… Read More »
Word count: 271 words 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: quixotic. I’ve encountered the adjective quixotic in my reading practically since I started reading, almost 50 years ago. I can
What does quixotic mean? Read More »
Word count: 868 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Does the idea of writing a book seem impossibly delicious and ridiculously improbable? I’m here to tell you, you can do it! You can learn how to write a book, if you do it with me. When I first dreamed of
How to write a book Read More »
Word count: 170 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 photos of writers’ hands commissioned by Wofford College. Wofford College
Writing advice from Wofford College… Read More »
Word count: 332 words Reading time: Just over 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 comment today on sentence written by English author Neil Gaiman. I loved the
The moon was a thin white smile… 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 an image from novelist Claire Messud. The novel The Emperor’s Children published in 2006 and written by Claire Messud was one of my favourite books of the
The figurative language of Claire Messud…. Read More »
