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: coeval… When I read the novel The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon, I enountered more than my usual number of new-to-me words. One […]
What does ‘coeval’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes No one is perfect. But it doesn’t make sense to badmouth yourself. If you’re a writer, here’s why (and how) you need to stop putting yourself down… When I was in high school and university, I saw myself as a procrastinator. Not inaccurately. I usually
Stop putting yourself down! 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 blog post about social media time interfering with writing…. Many people tell me they don’t
Is your social media time interfering with writing? Read More »
Viewing time: 3 minutes and 29 seconds 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 #23, addressing how to end a novel. The post first ran on
All about ending a novel (video) Read More »
Reading time: I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors from novelist Gary Shteyngart… Author Gary Shteyngart is a really funny guy. Several years ago, I enjoyed his novel Super Sad True Love Story. And, more
The figurative language of Gary Shteyngart… 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: suborned… I’d heard the word a million or so times (probably in every episode of Law & Order I ever watched) but I
What does ‘suborned’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Perhaps this will surprise you, but you need to learn how to fire a client. It will make you feel better and perhaps even help you make more money…. If you work as a freelancer, did you know you can fire clients? Here are 10
How to fire a client — and why you should 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 writing mediocrity, inspired by a New York Times piece by Tim Wu…. Have you ever feared
Should you really strive to eliminate writing mediocrity? Read More »
Viewing time: 4 minutes and 16 seconds 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 #22, addressing how to better organize research. The post first ran on June
How to better organize your research (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 Tana French. Generally, I don’t read murder mysteries. I find the genre too predictable and, often, the writing is pedestrian. I make
Yet more figurative language from Tana French Read More »
