Word count: 716 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you make new year’s resolutions every year? Do any of them relate to writing? Here’s my advice for turbo-charging your resolutions. I’ve never smoked. Even as a sullen, rule-breaking, hitchhiking teenager, I never even tried it. I say this […]
How writing is like quitting smoking Read More »
Word count: 348 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 write about the book The Political Speechwriter’s Companion. When I wrote about Robert Lehrman’s New
Getting help from the Political Speechwriter’s Companion Read More »
Word count: 299 words Reading time: Just over 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 is by Calvin Trillin. I’m not one of those people who eats
Sort of like bungee jumping… Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I read widely, watch movies and listen to the radio. In today’s post you’ll see an interesting use of figurative language by Ken Auletta I encountered recently. What could be more noble than the task of eliminating cliches? While I’m not afraid to wield my
Instead of eliminating cliches, tweak them! Read More »
Word count: 213 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: otiose. Some words make me eager to learn what they mean. Otiose falls into that category. I discovered
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Word count: 670 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Dorothy Parker hated writing. But she “loved having written.” How do you feel about the process? Do you want to become a happy writer? When I walked home from a client meeting yesterday, I strolled in the dark along the shimmering
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Word count: 391 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. Here is a link go an article arguing that many of us are simply too busy
Too busy to write? Read More »
Word count: 250 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 Amor Towles. There’s been a fuss about the novel Rules of
I sutured split infinitives… Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I read widely, watch movies and listen to the radio. In today’s post you’ll see an interesting piece of figurative language by Nathan Heller I encountered recently. A columnist for Slate Magazine and a film and TV critic for Vogue, Nathan Heller grew up in San Francisco but
The figurative language of Nathan Heller… Read More »
Word count: 268 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: fulgurating. I can’t remember where I first heard of Junot Diaz but I read the New Yorker each week
What does fulgurating mean? Read More »
