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.
Word count: 641 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes You probably know the Aesop tale about the tortoise and the hare. I think it offers an important tip about why you shouldn’t write too much at once…. Do you ever set aside an entire afternoon for writing? Or, better yet,
Why you shouldn’t write too much at once Read More »
Word count: 733 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you know how to stop procrastinating about your writing? Let me give you five suggestions that should help… A friend of mine emailed me last week, despairing over her very bright teenager’s inability to finish an essay. The essay
How to stop procrastinating about writing Read More »
Reading time: 2.5 minutes If you’re an “awfulizer” who procrastinates until deadlines are near (or passed!) here are five writing tips to help you become eager and optimistic about writing…. Awfulizers are people who expect the worst. They are the Alexanders of this world, constantly experiencing one terrible, horrible, no
Are you a writer who’s an awfulizer? Read More »
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes As soon as I saw the title of the book The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg, pictured here, I wanted to read it. Even if the work had nothing to do with writing (and that’s pretty much the case) I reckoned I could grab
Exploring the Power of Habit Read More »
Word count: 627 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Even if (like me) you were a fan of Steve Jobs, you wouldn’t have wanted him to be your writing coach… I admit it. I’m a Machead. I love my iMac and my iPhone and my iPad. I find them reliable,
Why Steve Jobs couldn’t train writers Read More »
Word count: 518 words Reading time: About 2 minutes Even when I don’t go looking for stories, I seem to fall over them. If you’re a writer, be sure to keep an eye out for them, too…. I took myself out for lunch following my blog launch. I wanted a
The power of the personal story Read More »
Word count: 563 words Reading time: Just over 2 minutes The idea of copying another writer may seem distasteful to you, but, trust me, you can learn a lot from the practice… * I didn’t cheat on exams when I was in high school. I restricted myself to reading novels
Why you should copy (a modest proposal) Read More »
Word count: 725 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Although H.L. Mencken felt that “criticism is prejudice made plausible,” I believe all writers can learn from criticism they receive. Here’s how: How are you at handling criticism? I don’t mean comments about your driving or your housework or your management style.
How to handle criticism of your writing Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Here’s why I insist that you spend some of your writing time, NOT writing, but instead incubating…. When I was a callow teenager and completed my honours political science thesis in June 1979, I finished it only because my professor declined to give me another
Become a better writer by incubating Read More »
Word Count: 732 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Want to improve your writing? Stop doing these 17 things! Negative writing tips, I find, can be just as helpful as a positive ones. And, often, they’re far more memorable. Here, then are 17 things you should stop doing immediately, if
17 things to STOP doing to improve your writing Read More »
