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 think your writing would improve if only you could become more creative? Here are seven ways to boost your creativity…. We’ve never had pets in our household. Although I’d dearly love a cat, my husband is highly allergic to animal dander — and the thought of a hairless cat (pictured […]
7 ways to boost your creativity Read More »
Reading time: About 4 minutes Here is a long list of hacks to help you increase your writing motivation so that it really supports you…. Have you heard of the national competition that challenges people to write a novel in 30 days, NaNoWriMo? I haven’t participated. But I have written and published two books —
11 writing motivation hacks for 40,000+ words Read More »
Reading time: About 5 minutes (faster to scan) Do you ever write down what you need to accomplish? Here’s why all writers need checklists… Before I get into today’s column, can I ask for a quick favour? I’m looking for testimonials from people who get value from my newsletter. If that describes you, would you
Why writers need checklists Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Are you making writing too hard for yourself? Here are seven common mistakes that plague many people… When I wrote my first book, 17 years ago, I struggled to sit down to produce the first draft. I procrastinated constantly (I’d rather have worked on my taxes), I edited while I
7 ways you’re making writing too hard Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you ever let your mind wander? Here’s why that might actually be a good idea… You’re lying on your couch reading a book, and all of a sudden you realize you’ve read three pages and you don’t have a clue what’s been going on in the text. Why? Your
Why you should LET your mind wander Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes If you ever find yourself writing through uncertainty, you’ll likely feel uncomfortable. But, instead, thank your lucky stars you have a chance to write this way… I met with a client just last week who was stuck in the messy middle of his book. He’d been wrestling with it for
Advice on writing through uncertainty Read More »
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 we spent too much time
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 truly overwhelmed. My children —
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 have three suggestions for you.
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 took to Italy left me
13 ways to boost your writing by catching more ZZZZZs… Read More »
