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.
Do you remember the days of Richard Nixon? Today’s newsletter describes the creative experiences of actor Frank Langella — who’s currently starring in a movie as the former president — and translates his thoughts into writing advice. I was in high school when former U.S. president Richard Nixon resigned. I don’t remember seeing him give his […]
A writing lesson from Richard Nixon Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Have you ever had a near-fatal experience? Today I explore three lessons I learned from the experience of having a stroke. If you’ve been a subscriber of mine for at least three weeks, you’ll have received an email from me on Nov. 18 saying I was too sick to send out my regular
Three writing lessons from a stroke of insight Read More »
Reading time: Just over 2 minutes I’m a big fan of a technique called “vacuuming your lungs.” Designed to eliminate breathlessness in people who need to deliver speeches, do radio interviews or even teach classes, it involves expelling all the air from your lungs, bending over and temporarily denying yourself of air and then taking a
How to vacuum your brain Read More »
Reading time: about 2.5 minutes Do you have a supermodel you can consult with? Headline notwithstanding, I don’t mean Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell or even that inimitable diva, Tyra Banks. (I call this column the Tyra Banks approach because I’m Canadian and irony is in my nature.) What I’m talking about today is having a writing
The Tyra Banks approach to writing Read More »
Reading time: less than 3 minutes When my 13-year-old son recently used the word schadenfreude in casual conversation, I snapped to attention. “Where on earth did he learn that?” I wondered. This marvellous but obscure German word, which means “to feel joy at another’s misfortune,” is hardly everyday fodder for teenagers. Turns out he picked it
Of schadenfreude, finials and no-cost rice Read More »
Reading time: just over 2 minutes I’m old enough to have witnessed poodle skirts (on my mother), Pep Chew chocolate bars, elephant pants and brown briefly becoming the new black. One of the few advantages of aging is the perspective it gives you on trends. And aside from fashion, which is a category unto itself, one
Were you taught to write or just taught to write badly? Read More »
Reading time: less than 3 minutes Almost 400 years after the death of William Shakespeare, theatres still regularly perform his plays, children study his work in school and we are still moved by the complexity of his stories and the beauty of his language. But what’s less well known is that Shakespeare also provided superb advice
William Shakespeare’s 5 best copywriting tips Read More »
