Reading time: About 3 minutes Today’s column looks at the important topic of telling stories — admittedly, through the eyes of a horse! I have never ridden a horse. Nor have I had much interest in them. When I was in my early 20s, a journalist friend of mine was given $50 and assigned a […]
Writing lessons from a horse? Check out Seabiscuit! Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Today’s column tackles the controversial topic of multitasking. Is it the sign of a highly skilled writer or a totally delusional one? Read on to find out. I work mostly from home and I’m the mother of triplets. In some ways, I think I’m a marvelous multitasker. Heck, I practically defined
Are you frittering away your life by multitasking? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Today’s column is five-step guide on how to kill creativity. Follow these steps carefully, and I guarantee you’ll never be able to avoid writer’s block ever again! There I was, sitting in a doctor’s office, waiting for my appointment. Actually, it was much later than my allotted time because the doctor
How to kill creativity Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Today’s column is all about good habits and how to develop them. I’m not a big believer in new year’s resolutions. I’m the kind of person who already has a mile long “to do” list every day. Okay, well it’s not exactly a mile. But it is a full page,
How good writers forge good habits Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes My best books of the year column is always one of my most popular…. I was late to start reading but once I did, I fell in love with it. I distinctly remember, throughout grades 4 to 7, always keeping a novel perched on the top right-hand corner of my desk.
10 best books I read in 2009 Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes In this, my last column of 2009, I bring you 12 blogs — one for each of the days of Christmas. This is what I like to call a “high concept” column. I’m taking the song the 12 days of Christmas and, um, re-purposing the title to present the 12
Welcome to the 12 best blogs of Christmas Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes What’s even more important than what you’re writing right now? Why, the headline you put on top of it, of course. Here are some tips on how to write better headlines. I’ve written before about how to produce good headlines. But as the year’s end approaches and we nudge closer to
7 tips for better headlines and 10 hilariously bad heads Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes I love Twitter. Not that I spend a lot of time on it — I don’t. But I find it’s a great way connect with a wide range of people really quickly. I’m constantly telling clients that they should be on Twitter too and I get a lot of, ummm,
A rank amateur’s guide to Twitter Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Sometimes I get ideas in the most unusual places. Read on to discovered what I learned from a recent radio recording. It was a cold and rainy November evening. My husband and I drove downtown, found parking and then ran through the raindrops to find the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Once
What composer Rob Kapilow can teach you about writing Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Dr. Wicked provides a great no-cost tool for anyone who wants to write faster. Back when I worked in daily newspapers, most of my buddies were journalists. One was named Peter and I liked his style. He was a great reporter — he could produce writing in a wide variety
In praise and honour of Dr. Wicked Read More »
