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 Do you ever indulge in panic editing? Here’s why you shouldn’t and how to beat down the impulse… We’ve all been there. Our deadline is mere hours away, and we haven’t finished editing our writing project. Maybe we became lost in the research cycle. Perhaps […]
The perils of panic editing Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes (faster if you scan) How to deal with overwhelm is a question that plagues many writers, especially academics. Here I offer 17 tips to help make your writing life much calmer. I’m generally a calm person, but I can remember a time when I felt
17 tips for how to deal with overwhelm Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Does a five-minute workday sound ludicrous to you? It shouldn’t. Not if you want to establish a sustainable writing habit… Have you spent days, weeks, months, perhaps even years failing to find enough time to write? Perhaps failing to find any time to write? I
The five-minute workday Read More »
Reading time: about 4 minutes To be a truly productive writer you need plenty of shut-eye. The absence of sleep will not only negatively affect your health, but it will also hurt your writing… Here’s how to get more sleep: I think a lot about sleep. A trip I once
13 ways to boost your writing by catching more ZZZZZs… Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Do you want to improve your sentence structure? Here are seven types of sentences that you should eschew…. I like reading text that sounds as if the writer is speaking to me. I also like watching ice skating that looks as though it is effortless.
7 sentences you should stop writing to improve your sentence structure Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you ever consider the merits of paper vs. digital material when you’re reading or writing? From room-sized computers to pocket devices, technology has transformed how we read and write. But is digital always better? As someone who’s witnessed the entire evolution — from typewriters
Paper vs. digital: which should win? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Having some strong mental models can not only help you write faster but it will make the job more pleasant as well… Have you ever noticed how some tasks come naturally while others feel like wading through mud? You might whip up dinner effortlessly but
9 mental models to help you write smarter, not harder Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Perfectionism in writing, which often leads to overwhelming guilt, is only a destructive force — not a helpful one… Are you ever haunted by the quality of your writing? Not just the occasional “I-could-have-done-better” thought (we all have those), but a deeper, more consuming guilt?
Creator to critic: How perfectionism in writing traps you in guilt (part 3 of 3) Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Do you ever feel as though you’re not doing enough? Your researching, writing or editing is just too slow? Learn how to combat these negative feelings… Do you pour countless hours into your writing, yet feel you have too little to show for it? Does
The guilt of not doing enough (Managing guilt, part 2 of 3) Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes Does procrastination-guilt ever hold you in its clutches? Read on to learn how to defeat this insidious monster. How do you view guilt? Is it a positive force in your life that drives your productivity and helps you make better use of your time? Or
Break free from the procrastination-guilt trap (part 1 of 3) Read More »
