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: Just over 3 minutes If you want to become a faster writer, think about how you can practice typing during the pandemic. Agile fingers will help you better keep up with your brain… I learned to type on a typesetting machine. I’d wanted to learn in high school but my snooty convent school […]
Why you should practice typing Read More »
Reading time: Roughly 8 minutes (but very skimmable) Here are my 10 favourite articles or posts from last month, focusing on the most useful, helpful and healthful pieces for writers. I’m starting to think of COVID-19 as the pandemic that won’t end. Last week I had the suffocating feeling of being a prisoner in my
PubCoach Top 10: More on COVID Read More »
Reading time: Just over 4 minutes Do you know how to exercise during the pandemic? If you’re having a hard time writing, consider lack of exercise may be part of the problem… Is the pandemic keeping you from exercising? If your writing habit is going to heck, lack of exercise may be one of the main
How to exercise during the pandemic Read More »
Reading time: Just over 4 minutes Has your productivity taken a nose-dive during the pandemic? Mine sure has! Here’s why we should all STOP trying to be productive during the pandemic… Before you read today’s post, can I ask you to take 30 seconds to complete a one-question survey? I’m going to be offering no-charge
Stop trying to be productive during the pandemic Read More »
Reading time: 11 minutes (but easily skimmable) When I was a child I learned that I could make time pass more quickly by reading. Here are more than 52 novels to read during the pandemic… I’ve kept a book diary for the last 25 years. The list comes in handy whenever I want to buy
52 novels to read during the pandemic Read More »
Reading time: Just over 6 minutes Here are my 10 favourite articles or posts from last month, focusing on the most useful, helpful and healthful pieces for writers. We live in the time of coronavirus, worried about the world’s health, scared about our financial security and bored from being stuck in our homes or apartments.
PubCoach Top 10: Covid-19 edition Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Some people (like me) love working from home. Others find it frightening or daunting. Here’s how to work from home in a workable way… Is the threat of coronavirus forcing you to work from home for the next few weeks or months? I started working from home some 24 years
How to work from home — even if you really don’t want to Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes Need to work with difficult editors, whether they’re annoying, angry or thoroughly inept? Here’s a primer on how to accomplish that challenging task…. I once worked for a difficult editor at the daily newspaper where I cut my teeth. He started screaming at me in my first job interview, and
How to work with difficult editors Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes If writing is making you miserable, don’t be loyal to your suffering! Here’s what to do instead…. Are you one of those writers who expects writing to be difficult, challenging, boring and — most alarmingly — unsuccessful? I’ve worked with people like that and I’ll never forget the client, a
How do you stop being loyal to your suffering? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 4 minutes I know this may sound crazy, but, for writers, the benefits of boredom outweigh its downsides…. I’m going to ask you to do something difficult. I’d like you to stop seeing boredom as automatically undesirable, bad or negative. Instead, I ask you to see it as neutral — and
The benefits of boredom… Read More »
