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: Less than 3 minutes Time is the most valuable commodity we all have. But let me ask you if you’re regularly wasting your writing time…. If Superman, or the tooth fairy or Dumbledore offered you either $1,500 or a thousand minutes of your life back, which would you
Are you wasting your writing time? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you figure that time or hard work is enough to improve your writing? Alas, it’s not — if you consider the Pareto Principle in writing…. When I worked on my BA in political science in the late 1970s some form of madness overtook
The Pareto Principle in writing Read More »
SeReading time: Just over 3 minutes If you were educated following Western norms, your many years of schooling may have made you wonderfully analytic but otherwise unoriginal or uninspired. Here’s how to improve your creativity… Are you already a creative person? Or are you the kind of writer who desperately wants
How to improve your creativity Read More »
Reading time: Just over 2 minutes If the recent passage of Jan. 1 has you feeling bad for not having made some writing-related new year’s resolutions, remember this: plans for writers are a far better idea… I no longer believe in new year’s resolutions. This discovery came over me in
Your guide to a better kind of New Year’s resolution Read More »
Reading time: Less than 5 minutes Are you still struggling with what gifts to buy some writer friends for Christmas? Or, maybe, like me, you don’t even know what gifts to request for yourself. Here are 17 ideas for Christmas gifts for writers… I once overheard someone say, “Christmas is for
17 Christmas gifts for writers Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Are you one of the non-native English speakers who’s afraid of writing. Don’t be scared. And don’t think that focusing on grammar is the answer. Here’s what you should do instead… I’m a debate coach at my local high school and a great many of my
7 ways non-native English speakers can improve their writing Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Looking for some recommended books in time Christmas gift-giving? Here’s my semi-annual roundup — this time of books I’ve read since June. I aim to read 52 books every 12 months and my habit is to post the names of them for you, twice a year.
Recommended books: Winter 2016 Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes Do you write relatively easily but find yourself overwhelmed when it comes to editing? Here is a complete self-editing checklist to make the job easier… I do many different kinds of work, but I have one favourite job. Editing a 750 to 1,200-word piece written
Your complete self-editing checklist Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Has the handwritten thank you letter died a quiet death? If you were hoping the answer is yes, you’re wrong. The value of thank you notes is still significant to people who can help you… My mother seldom favoured arbitrary rules. I never had
The value of thank you notes Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Do you have bad writing habits? Check out this list and resolve to give yourself a fighting chance to become a much better — and more relaxed — writer… I never learned how to write when I was a journalist. My habits were already
7 vexing habits guaranteed to wreck your writing Read More »
