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 My best books of the year column is always one of my most popular…. I was late to start reading but once I did, I fell in love with it. I distinctly remember, throughout grades 4 to 7, always keeping a novel perched on the top […]
10 best books I read in 2009 Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes In this, my last column of 2009, I bring you 12 blogs — one for each of the days of Christmas. This is what I like to call a “high concept” column. I’m taking the song the 12 days of Christmas and, um, re-purposing the
Welcome to the 12 best blogs of Christmas Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes What’s even more important than what you’re writing right now? Why, the headline you put on top of it, of course. Here are some tips on how to write better headlines. I’ve written before about how to produce good headlines. But as the year’s end approaches
7 tips for better headlines and 10 hilariously bad heads Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes I love Twitter. Not that I spend a lot of time on it — I don’t. But I find it’s a great way connect with a wide range of people really quickly. I’m constantly telling clients that they should be on Twitter too and I
A rank amateur’s guide to Twitter Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Sometimes I get ideas in the most unusual places. Read on to discovered what I learned from a recent radio recording. It was a cold and rainy November evening. My husband and I drove downtown, found parking and then ran through the raindrops to find the
What composer Rob Kapilow can teach you about writing Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Dr. Wicked provides a great no-cost tool for anyone who wants to write faster. Back when I worked in daily newspapers, most of my buddies were journalists. One was named Peter and I liked his style. He was a great reporter — he could produce
In praise and honour of Dr. Wicked Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Have you ever experienced a butt-brushing while shopping? Worse, have you ever inflicted one while writing? Read on to learn more. Send me into a grocery store and I’ll happily spend an hour picking over produce and looking for the very best breads and cheeses.
How to avoid butt-brushing your readers Read More »
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Did you know that becoming a better reader will also make you a better writer? Here are 5 tips to help you…. One of my three children is dyslexic, but I taught the other two to read myself. It wasn’t hard, but here’s the deal
5 ways to be a better reader. . . and writer Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Today’s column encourages you to save most of your writing but describes the circumstances under which you might want to discard it — or, at least, put it on hold. Let me start with a confession. You are not reading the newsletter I originally intended
When you should discard your writing Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Today’s column describes how my daughter’s scoliosis reminds me of the additivity of small numbers and how this principle can have a dramatic impact on your writing. My 15-year-old daughter and I share many traits. We’d both rather eat a really good piece of cheese
What scoliosis can teach you about writing Read More »
