Be a more productive writer

Reading time: About 3 minutes Both careful planning and a respect for reality are crucial components of any successful writing routine… Are you too perfectionistic about your writing routine? I work with many writers who are. My perfectionist clients give themselves goals — like write 500 words a day — or […]

 Reading time: About 3 minutes If you can’t answer the question, “what is bike shedding,” you may be doing it yourself — to your own disadvantage as a writer… My son phoned me recently to talk about… bike shedding. When he used the word, I was certain I must have

Reading time: About 4 minutes Are you a person who thinks slow writing is inevitable? It needn’t be. If you want to bump up your speed, question the assumptions you’re making…. I’ve just read a marvelous non-fiction book by self-confessed productivity geek Oliver Burkeman.  The name of it is, Four Thousand

Reading time: About 3 minutes If you’d promised to become a more regular writer in 2022 and you’re already failing at your resolution, here’s how to stop putting off your writing… It’s nearing the end of January, the time when New Year’s resolutions start to fade into the background.  Soon,

Reading time: About 3 minutes If you don’t know how to meet deadlines, my hunch is that you frequently say something like, ‘I’ll do this by the end of the month.’ Here’s why you should stop… How often do you tell yourself the lie that you’ll finish your project, report,

Reading time: About 4 minutes Are you ever undone by writing anxiety? Take some straightforward steps now to get this monster off your back! I’m lucky enough not to feel debilitating anxiety. Sure, I get nervous about things from time to time. But I don’t get that racing-pulse-sweating-palms-heart-in-the-throat feeling that

Reading time: About 3 minutes Sure, you may read for fun. But if you learn how reading helps writing, you’ll start approaching the task a little differently…. An essay by Joan Didion described her husband — the late John Gregory Dunne — reading a novel. I could be wrong, but

Reading time: About 4 minutes If you want to flourish as a writer, take some simple steps that will make the act of writing less painful and more fun…. As the pandemic starts to fade — in the developed world, at least — I’m noticing lots of talk about languishing