Word count: 745 words Reading time: About 3 minutes This will sound counterintuitive, but, in order to improve your writing, sometimes you may need to stop writing. Just as making great music isn’t always about being pitch perfect (think of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen), writing isn’t always about, well, writing. […]
10 non-writing activities that will improve your writing Read More »
Word count: 285 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 by political speechwriter Robert Lehrman. I’ve written lots of speeches in my
On political speechwriting with Robert Lehrman Read More »
Word count: 194 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing is to emulate the work of others. Here is a sentence I read recently that I’d happily imitate. This one offers a how-to lesson on dealing with cliches. I always enjoying seeing cliches
How to salvage a cliche Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes I read widely, watch movies and listen to the radio. Here, catch an interesting piece of figurative language I’ve encountered recently. Today’s choice comes from the Obama 2012 speech that wrapped up the election. I had no vote in this week’s US presidential election. I’m
Obama 2012 speech delivers figurative language Read More »
Word count: 354 words Reading time: About 1.5 minutes If you increase your vocabulary you’ll not only help your reading, you’ll also make your writing more precise. Here is my word of the week: anodyne. I’m still reading Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres and I continue to find
What does anodyne mean? Read More »
Word count: 750 words Reading time: About 3 minutes It’s hard to feel much joy when you’re reading really bad writing. But I have an idea that might just help turn your frown upside down… The managing editor couldn’t have been any nastier. “We’ve had a bomb threat,” he said
Why you should appreciate some bad writing Read More »
Word count: 371 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 look at the book English Prepositional Idioms. My father was a bit of a crank.
The power of prepositional idioms Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute A great way to improve your writing skills is to emulate the work of others. Here is a sentence by David Sedaris I read recently that I’d happily imitate. I used to host a book club and I’ll never forget the meeting about eight
The fine writing of David Sedaris Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I read widely, watch movies and listen to the radio. Here, catch an interesting piece of figurative language I’ve encountered recently, which comes from a New Yorker article describing Steinway Hall. I remember exploring Steinway Hall’s quiet corridors about two years ago, when my
Steinway Hall has the ponderous stillness of a funeral home Read More »
Word count: 290 words Reading time: Just over 1 minute If you increase your vocabulary you’ll not only help your reading, you’ll also make your writing more precise. Today, my word of the week is sessile. I like to think I have a large vocabulary but there’s one part of
What does sessile mean? Read More »
