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 want to become a better writer, it might surprise you to know some of the simple steps you can take… As a writing coach with 45 years of experience guiding thousands of writers, I’ve discovered a number of obvious — and not-so-obvious — […]
7 obvious and not-so-obvious ways to become a better writer Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes If you’ve ever been proud of something you find easy to do, ask yourself this: Can talents become weaknesses? I’m what you might call a “born” editor. I started editing when I was in high school. My papers. My friends’ papers. I thought it was
Can talents become weaknesses? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes If I asked you to compare your writing to an animal, is it possible you’d say you enjoy writing like a shark? When you read the headline “writing like a shark,” you might have thought I was going to talk about writing that is aggressive,
The problem with writing like a shark Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes If you’re inclined to delay, postpone or procrastinate, here’s an argument for why you should start writing today… I talk with a lot of people who want to write… eventually. They have an idea for a book. There’s a blog they want to contribute to
What learning French has to do with writing Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes There comes a time when you should stop reading, start writing. To figure out if this advice applies to you, calculate how many writing books you have on your shelves… How many books on writing do you own? How much time do you spend thinking about
When you should stop reading, start writing Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Reducing writing shame should be one of your goals if you ever suffer from this supremely uncomfortable and unhelpful emotion…. Are you proud of your ability to write? Or do you secretly feel embarrassed, worried or even ashamed about it? Let me begin by
How to reduce writing shame Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes You’ve undoubtedly heard about having a good work ethic. But have you ever heard of the term rest ethic? Your biggest obstacle to getting enough rest is probably you. I know this might sound like a crazy thought during the last week of August —
Writers: how to stop sabotaging your rest ethic Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Most of us don’t like criticism, but as writers, we need to learn how to be edited. Here’s a great trick for making negative feedback positive…. When I was writing stories for a national magazine, many years ago, I had one editor who particularly irritated
A tip for making negative feedback positive Read More »
Reading time: Just over 5 minutes When I need an immediate boost, I have a list of 21 habits or tricks I can employ to get out of the writing doldrums… I live in a city with many fine attributes: the weather is mild, the mountains are beautiful, the beaches spectacular.
21 ways I get out of the writing doldrums Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes If writing always feels like the LAST thing you want to do, it may be time to change your attitude about writing. Here’s how to do that…. I used a writing trick to help me with the laundry recently. Every Saturday morning, I think about
Do you need to change your attitude about writing? Read More »
