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 2.5 minutes Do you regularly eat mangoes? Today I’ll explain why you should massage your mangoes — and, of course, your metaphors. I bought a new chair recently. This decision was a key part of my ongoing campaign to improve my wretched back. I’m also seeing a personal trainer […]
Why you should massage your mangoes — and metaphors Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes When I was about 16 years old, I first heard about the two-martini mistake. This wasn’t, as you might suppose, a teenage drinking behaviour. (Think about it — that would be more like the ten-beer mistake!) A throwback to the late ’60s, the term meant two
How to prevent the two-martini assumption Read More »
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Do you ever struggle to find writing inspiration? Bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert has some unusual thoughts about the origins of inspiration. Keep reading to find out more. When I read the memoir Eat, Pray, Love several years ago I was like a 14-year-old facing a
Do you have a demon for writing inspiration? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Last week’s column on mindmapping inveigled a large number of responses. One of them had me laughing. . . and thinking . . . and acting. . . Read on to find out more.. I received a cheeky and amusing email last week. It came in
How to take an honest leap at mindmapping Read More »
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Does receiving advice ever make you uncomfortable or suspicious? Here are some easy strategies you can adopt to transform one-size-fits-all advice you get into something that’s actually helpful to you. Have you ever tried on a hat — billed as “one size fits all” — and
What to do when “one size” doesn’t fit you Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you ever forget to do something important? Here is a quick tip to help all speakers and writers improve their memories. It was the woman’s voice. Mellifluous. It made a small thrill run down my spine. She sounded like a college professor, accustomed to
Lessons from Fitzy’s grandma Read More »
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Need some advice on how to start writing? Professional trainers and time management executives all know that teaching people how to begin a task will often be enough to ensure they complete it. Read below for more detail. In last week’s column I mentioned writing
5 ways to start writing if you’re unhappy with your words Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you ever feel too much writing pressure? Keep reading to learn how certain types of pressure can actually HELP your writing! Maybe it’s aging, but I don’t usually like the idea of writing under a whole bunch of pressure. When I was younger,
How to increase your writing pressure Read More »
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Do you appreciate a good story? More importantly, do you use it in the best possible away? This is one of the most important writing lessons you can ever learn. Once upon a time, a man who now is a naturalist at the Grand Canyon
Writing lessons from the Grand Canyon Read More »
Reading time: About 2.5 minutes How are your reading skills? Do you attack books like a pit bull with a bone or do you stack them up by your bedside and ignore them? Scroll down to learn how to read like a writer. I typically read a book a week
Why you should read like a writer Read More »
