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: uxorious…. When I encountered the word uxorious in Patricia Hampl’s very fine non-fiction book The Art of the Wasted Day, I had no idea what it meant. […]
What does ‘uxorious’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Do you think you need to be happy or inspired to write? You have it exactly backwards! Instead, mood follows action…. Have you ever tried to write and found yourself unable to do it? My hunch is that you were waiting to feel more inspired. Or, at the very least,
Mood follows action: no inspiration required Read More »
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 other writers. Today I discuss a New York Times article addressing the question ‘how much can writers earn’? It’s a great time to be a writer. The
How much can writers earn? Read More »
Viewing time: 4 min. 4 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 #47, about how mindmapping books helps writers. The post first ran on Feb. 23/18. Transcript: Welcome to The
How mindmapping books helps writers (video) Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of arresting images from American writer Amor Towles…. I love receiving books — they are my favourite gift in the world. Particularly if the giver has already read the book
The figurative language of Amor Towles… Read More »
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: hajj…. Some writers are clearly well educated and deeply literate and when I picked up Patricia Hampl’s book The Art of the Wasted Day, I knew immediately
Reading time: About 4 minutes Scientists now believe there are excellent reasons you should doodle. Don’t view doodling as dilly-dallying or time-wasting… My mother became an artist at the age of 65. She took up chalk pastels and almost immediately started producing beautiful, saleable work. That’s a photo of one of my favourite pieces of
Can’t write? Can’t draw? Here’s why you should doodle Read More »
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 other writers. Today I discuss a BBC post giving advice on how to read more… Most people who consult my website know that I read at
Viewing time: 4 min. 42 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 #46, about why you should start your stories in medias res. The post first ran on Feb. 16/18. Transcript:
Why you should start your stories in medias res (video) Read More »
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 from young adult author Vicki Grant…. I don’t typically read a lot of young adult fiction. I make a happy exception for John Green, who is a
The figurative language of Vicki Grant Read More »
