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 2 minutes When making your holiday plans, think about the neuroscience of willpower and writing before taking your break… I’m a sucker for free shipping. In fact, that’s why there’s never any shipping charge for my own book. So, when I bought a bunch of Amazon titles for Christmas recently, it thrilled me to realize I […]
Holidays, writing & the neuroscience of willpower Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Have you ever wondered how to fight perfectionism? I’ve battled it for many years. Let me share my strategy… Born into a highly competitive family, with a father — a writer — who believed his five children always needed to try a whole lot harder, I felt as if I
Why writers need to practice generosity Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Here’s a new verb: to satisfice. And let me explain why you should satisfice your writing… When my triplets were born in 1994, I knew I needed help. That said, we didn’t want to hire a nanny. We had no space in our house for one. As well, my
Why you should satisfice your writing Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Is writing a chore that you dread? Here are some suggestions for how to make writing more fun… Would you rather write a blog post or go play a game of Hearts? Do your household budget or read a novel? Produce a report for your boss or take the
How to ‘game’ your writing Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Looking for some book suggestions in time for Christmas? Here’s my roundup based on my reading so far this year. My habit is to post for you the names of all the books I’ve read, twice a year. Last July, I told you about the 25 titles I’d read by
Recommended books: Christmas 2014 Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minute Are you afraid of self-editing? Here’s how to make editing less daunting. Instead of vaguely aspiring to make your text perfect, pass through it many times looking for specific problems…. One of my clients used to find writing horrifying, frightful and nerve-racking. But as a student working on her PhD
How to make editing less daunting Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Side projects are things we do that aren’t our main jobs. Does that thought invigorate you or make your heart sink? I’m firmly in the former camp… This blog/newsletter started as a side project. Back in 2006, I had a writing/editing contract with a big corporation that paid the bills. But I
How side projects can help keep you sane Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Communicators need to use writing transitions — or bridges — from one sentence to the next. In that sense, we’re a little bit like ironworkers… Bridges, connectors or transitions are the words, phrases and stylistic devices that help direct readers through our writing. Sometimes I even like to imagine them as
Why writers need to build bridges Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Having a “vocabulary” of writing problems might sound like a strange idea but there are some terrific benefits from knowing how to ID your bad writing… I was speaking with a coaching client last week about “bad writing.” Here’s what we decided: Most writing is neither bad nor good. Instead,
How to ID your bad writing Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes If you’ve ever struggled with turning mindmapping into writing, here’s some advice for you… I like to describe mindmapping as a little bit of fairy dust for writers. But recently, a writer named Omer wrote to me saying, “So, I mindmapped. Now what?” If you haven’t read my no-charge booklet
So, I mindmapped. Now what? Read More »
