Power Writing began as a weekly newsletter in April 2006. Its purpose? To give tips and advice about writing, to tell interesting stories and to help writers everywhere work faster, better. I distribute the newsletter by email to thousands of readers around the world every week and, since March 2012, it has become the Tuesday entry of my blog.
You can read many Power Writing entries here – I back-entered all columns until the beginning of 2009, and a handful of ones that were earlier than that. But I hope you’ll consider subscribing, too. Just enter your name and email in the box next to my photo on the home page of my website. If you do that, you’ll not only receive Power Writing by email each week, you’ll also automatically get access to a 10-minute video on how to unblock your writing.
Reading time: About 3 minutes If you’re not writing to the point of pain from time to time, you’re probably not pushing yourself hard enough…. My husband and I went to Phoenix the last week of January — our first get-on-a-plane holiday since the pandemic. Part of the reason we’ve reduced air travel is not […]
Writing to the point of pain Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes The word failed makes us feel like, well, failures. But reconsidering your failed New Year’s resolutions can yield some hopeful results… By mid-February, many people have collected an assortment of failed New Year’s resolutions. Especially if those resolutions involved exercise or writing. But instead of feeling downhearted or discouraged with
Reconsider your failed New Year’s resolutions Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes If you’re producing boring writing, you need to figure out why. Could the problem be as simple as your sentence structure? Do you ever worry that your writing is too boring? Don’t fret — you’re not alone. Most writers are overwhelmingly self-critical. But the issue may not be you. Or
How to stop torturing your readers with boring writing Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Writing is work, true, but to help yourself be more successful at it, you need to learn how to make writing more fun…. If you love playing tennis, do you procrastinate when a friend asks if you want to play a game? If you adore baking, do you postpone making
How to make writing more fun Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Does your self-critical voice work to shut down your writing? If so, here are five useful tips on how to silence your inner editor while you’re trying to write… Begin by understanding that we all talk to ourselves. And most of what we say is pretty negative. We question our
More ways to silence your inner editor (while you’re writing) Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Do you try to be “all in” with your writing, even though you might not have very much time to do it? It’s a great strategy to pursue…. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “all in.” For example, you might say you’re “all in” with an exercise program. Or you’re
How to be sensibly “all in” with your writing Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Most of us prefer to succeed, but if we have to fail, it’s possible to fail better as a writer… You’ve undoubtedly already heard Samuel Beckett’s advice: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” It comes from his second-to-last piece of work ever published, Worstward Ho, a short piece of prose
How can you fail better as a writer? Read More »
There’s no Power Writing from me today as I’m taking some time off this week to celebrate Christmas and the new year. I hope you get a break, too, and I’ll be back in time for next week’s post, January 2nd. Happy New Year!
Reading time: About 4 minutes Do you fear you’ve ever been somewhat dysfunctional about Christmas? Here’s how writers can retain the holiday spirit… The ghosts of Christmases past still haunt me. There was the frustrating Christmas when my family’s struggling weekly newspaper had its typesetting machine break down just before our largest issue of the
How writers can retain the holiday spirit Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you often give yourself unreasonable writing goals? Instead, start by asking yourself: how many hours do writers work a day? I’ve recently returned to work after a terrible flu. Of course I’d had my annual flu jab — I’m a big believer in science and public health — but
How many hours do writers work a day? Read More »
