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 Have you ever fretted about how to improve your writing? It might not be as expensive as you fear… We had a plethora of reasons for rebuilding our house four years ago. It had a cracked foundation that made it unsafe in the earthquake zone in which we live. We […]
What a broken washing machine can teach you about writing Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Have you ever struggled with how to make writing easier? Here are some tips I’ve picked up as I’ve aged… I have a weird psychological quirk. Significant birthdays — ones ending in 0 — never upset me. Instead, I get freaked out by ones ending in seven. Somehow, the oddness
5 life lessons for your younger writer Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Does writing scare you? Maybe the problem is you don’t have a system for writing. I faced the same challenge with Hollandaise sauce, recently…. Cooking doesn’t usually scare me. I’ve made soufflé, mousse, bread without a machine and turkey dinner for 22 without turning a hair grey. But for some reason,
How making Hollandaise is like writing Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Would you like to banish your writer’s block? Here is an easy-to-implement suggestion that’s guaranteed to work… Clients of mine are sometimes surprised when I suggest that they write for only five minutes a day. “That sounds crazy, embarrassing,” they tell me. “What possible benefit could I get from that?”
The magic of 5 minutes Read More »
Reading time: Just over 2 minutes The Hemingway App promises to make your writing bold and clear. How does it do that? Most writers today strive to avoid the passive voice. Do you know what I mean by passive? Don’t be too quick to say yes! It may be easy to identify the blatantly obvious
Come to Papa with the Hemingway app Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Please don’t think me a zealot but today I’m going to tell you why writers should meditate… You may wonder why, shortly after waking up every morning, I head upstairs to my office and lie down on the floor and cover myself with a blanket. You’d think, after seven hours of sleep, I wouldn’t
Why I’m meditating again Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Does your failure to do adequate writing planning ever lead to catastrophe? I know mine sometimes does… I have the kind of voice that often makes people ask me if I’ve ever worked in radio. I wish I could answer yes! My deep alto, with reasonably crisp articulation, would have
What a recording studio taught me about writing planning Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes You’ve probably heard the charge that many academics write badly. You may even have said it yourself! Here’s why… A group of doctors paid me to edit a report a few years back. Their work — not a medical study, but a document aimed at making a political point —
Why do so many academics write badly? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Here’s my advice: don’t plan to write when you go on holiday. Instead, take a break…. My husband and I had been out for dinner. I awoke at 4:30 the next morning feeling vaguely “off.” After tossing and turning for half an hour, I decided to get up and work.
When you take a break, take a break! Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes We all let our writing productivity wane from time to time. Perhaps we’re frightened. Or tired. Or overwhelmed. Don’t let this happen to you! Is your writing as productive as it needs to be? Here’s a checklist that will help you figure that out… Do the most important job first.
13 ways to improve your writing productivity Read More »
