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 3 minutes As a dedicated reader of blogs, I stumble across lists like “The 15 ways to….” all the time. Here’s some advice on how to write better lists. Readers like blog posts containing lists. You know: The 7 habits of highly effective writers Top 10 ways to find your career path […]
9 simple ways to write infinitely better lists Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Does the act of writing have its own rules? Yes! In fact, I think there are three laws of physics for writing… Do you remember Sir Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion? If a body is at rest it remains at rest or if it is in motion it remains
3 laws of physics for writing Read More »
Reading time: Just over 2 minutes Do you have an idea for a book — but no idea how to get started? Here’s a new program on how to write a book or a thesis… I finished writing the first draft of my next book this summer. While I didn’t toast myself with champagne, I was pretty
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Have you ever faced the challenge of serving different audiences with your writing? Here’s how I handle that… When our children were about five years old, we started priming them for a key duty. We wanted them to throw us a party for our 25th wedding anniversary in 2014. We
How to give readers their just desserts Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Last week I wrote about the benefits of the word yes. Today, I reflect on the advantages of just saying no. I have a bad back. I know I’ve created this back myself, after 30 years of stooping over a computer keyboard and hunching my shoulders forward. Years of
The benefits of saying no Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes There are five excellent reasons why you should say yes to writing more often. Here is a real-life email from one of my potential clients who wants to write for the theatre. It said: “I’ve put a hold on my play. I’m afraid of the “let down” when I realize
Why you should say yes to writing Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes My husband and I recently returned from a three-week trip to Europe. Here is part 3 of a three-part series on each of the cities we visited. Today I focus on Vienna with a piece on the importance of accepting help from others. (Part 1, on Amsterdam, and part 2 on Prague are both
Do you let others help you (write)? Read More »
Reading time: About 2 minutes My husband and I recently returned from a three-week trip to Europe. Here is part 2 of a three-part series on each of the cities we visited. Today I focus on Prague with a piece on the importance of separating writing and editing. (Part 1, on Amsterdam, is still available for those who
Writing advice from the Czech president Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes My husband and I just returned from a three-week trip to Europe. Here is part 1 of a three-part series on each of the cities we visited. Today I focus on Amsterdam with a piece on biking and writing. I didn’t own a bike when I was a kid.
Biking (and writing) like it’s no big deal Read More »
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Preparing myself for the holiday I’m on right now has reminded me about the value of deadlines… When you read this column, I will be in Vienna enjoying the sights and sounds of a city that was either the birthplace or burial site of Brahms, Schubert, Mozart and Beethoven. But this
Why you need to understand the value of deadlines Read More »
