Reading time: About one minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes from Yoko Ogawa…. Yoko Ogawa is a Japanese writer who has published more than 20 works of fiction and nonfiction, and has won every major Japanese literary award. She started her […]
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Reading time: About 3 minutes If you want to become a far more productive writer, learn how to take a work-free vacation… By Ann Gomez Earlier in my career, vacations seemed to add to (rather than alleviate) stress. I could feel my anxiety rising leading up to any vacation. My list always felt too long
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Reading time: About 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world for material to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post that could transform your writing by prompting you to use strong verbs… When I was in grade school many decades ago, I recall
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Viewing time: 5 mins. 41 secs. The Write Question is a weekly video podcast about writing that I started in 2017 and that ran, more or less weekly, until April 2022. This is a republication of issue #73, with advice on how to use readability stats. The post first ran on Nov. 9/18. Transcript:
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Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about similes and metaphors from Mary Choi…. I have three sisters so I’m always up for novels exploring the often-crazy dynamics of family relationships. The delightful novel Yolk, by Mary Choi falls into
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Reading time: Just over 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: hobbledehoy… I thought I knew the meaning of the word ‘hobbledehoy,’ but it turns out I was only partly right. I encountered it recently in the delightful
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Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you fail to write because you’re always trying to do too much? This is a common problem, and it takes some mindful planning to get around it… It’s the Tuesday after Labour Day in North America — one of the most hectic days in the annual calendar. Summer holidays
Are you trying to do too much? Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world for material to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about publishing contract problems… If you’re lucky enough to be offered a publishing contract by a traditional publisher, you’ll probably want to pull
Do you have publishing contract problems? Read More »
Viewing time: 5 min. 11 sec. The Write Question is a weekly video podcast about writing that I started in 2017 and that ran, more or less weekly, until April 2022. This is a republication of issue #72, with advice on how to say the same thing differently. The post first ran on Nov. 2/18.
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Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similes and metaphors from Stephen McCauley… American novelist Stephen McCauley (pictured above), started his working life by teaching yoga, working at a hotel, a kindergarten, and being a
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