Reading time: Just over 2 minutes When making your holiday plans, think about the neuroscience of willpower and writing before taking your break… I’m a sucker for free shipping. In fact, that’s why there’s never any shipping charge for my own book. So, when I bought a bunch of Amazon titles for Christmas recently, it …
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Here’s a new verb: to satisfice. And let me explain why you should satisfice your writing… When my triplets were born in 1994, I knew I needed help. That said, we didn’t want to hire a nanny. We had no space in our house …
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Have you ever thought of the value of self-talk? I’d always seen it as a liability but there are ways in which it can help you… I adore open-area offices. When I started working in a newsroom 30 years ago — with a hundred …
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes For some people perfectionism and writing go together like salt and pepper or a hammer and nails— you don’t have one without the other. Here’s some advice on how to fix that…. I injured my arm while making Hollandaise sauce, about six weeks ago. …
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Reading time: About 3 minutes Please don’t think me a zealot but today I’m going to tell you why writers should meditate… You may wonder why, shortly after waking up every morning, I head upstairs to my office and lie down on the floor and cover myself with a blanket. You’d think, after seven …
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Reading time: About 3 minutes Have you ever considered how much influence doubt may have on your writing? It could be one of your secret enemies — although, in truth, it’s relatively easy to turn it into a friend. I have a new companion. Or, at least, a new recognition …
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Many of our excuses for not writing might sound convincing, if we don’t think about them too much. But when it comes right down to it, the only person we’re hurting is ourselves. Check out this list and see if any of these excuses …
83 excuses for not writing Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you have a half-finished manuscript collecting dust in a bottom drawer? A half dozen articles you’ve started but never managed to wrap up? Here are five tips that will help you learn how to finish your writing. In the deliciously-titled fantasy novel, Miss Peregrine’s …
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Reading time: 2 and a half minutes Is perfectionism spoiling your writing? Here’s what you can tell yourself to deal with that problem… I’ve made many mistakes in my life. One of the most embarrassing ones relates to my brief but exciting life as a newspaper books editor in 1984. …
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Word count: 720 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes A bag of hammers typically refers to something that’s dumb or stupid. But I prefer Michael J. Fox’s definition — he takes it to mean anything that makes our lives more difficult…. I’m not generally a star-struck kind of person …
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