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: hew…. I learned the verb “to hew” when I was in grade school — as a result of the country I was born into. In my early […]
What does ‘hew’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes For whom do you write? I know your work might be for a client or for the public. But, really, you should always write for one person… I’ve received a great deal of advice over the years. Some of this advice has been silly — “don’t go swimming until an
Why you should write for one person Read More »
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes 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 blog post on editing others by Miss Manners, also known as Judith Martin…. I taught several workshops this week and,
Tips on editing others… Read More »
Viewing time: 3 min. 32 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 #41, about how to get better at writing in a second language. The post first ran on Dec.
Do you have difficulty writing in a second language? (video) Read More »
Reading time: Less than 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors from Jean Hanff Korelitz… Probably because I’m the mother of triplets, several people recommended a new novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz to me. Titled The Latecomer, the
The figurative language of Jean Hanff Korelitz Read More »
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: euchred…. The sad, cautionary and yet deeply funny story of Lee Israel is one of my favourite memoirs. You may be more likely to remember Israel as
What does ‘euchred’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 4 mins. It might surprise you to learn that the curse of knowledge is not a blessing in disguise. In fact, it’s a considerable disadvantage for writers… If you’re a writer, you’re probably a know-it-all. Not in the sense of a 6-year-old bully who says things like, “my dad knows way more
How the curse of knowledge is harming your writing Read More »
Reading time: Less than 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 blog post on ‘who’ vs. ‘whom’… Many friends, colleagues, readers and even family mistakenly see me as some sort of
Who wins in ‘who’ vs. ‘whom’? Read More »
Viewing time: 3 min. 58 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 #40, about when to give up on your writing. The post first ran on Dec. 8/17. Transcript: Welcome
When to give up on your writing (video) Read More »
Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors from Jean Echenoz… French writer Jean Echenoz published his first book, Le Méridien de Greenwich in 1979, and received the Fénéon Prize for it in 1980. Since then, he has
The figurative language of Jean Echenoz… Read More »
