As a former journalist and a communications consultant for more than 30 years, I devour books and articles about writing the way other people might eat bowlsfull of potato chips. If there is a book about writing, I’ve likely read it. (And if there’s a new one, I’m reading it shortly.) I also read about 90 blogs daily and scan the Internet voraciously, looking for new material about writing or related areas such as creativity, time management and freelancing. Writing about writing is a special pleasure for me because it helps me unite my core interests – reading and writing – and my lifetime of experience as a professional writer.
Reading time: About 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss an book written by Washington Post copy editor Bill Walsh…. I recently read an article on the term the the American Dialect Society […]
Yes I could care less Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss an article about the exclamation point written by Lauren Katz… I confess: I sometimes overuse exclamation marks. Mostly, I do this in
I’m not kidding about the exclamation point… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss an article on collective nouns from the Language Matters blog by the Oxford Dictionaries… Collective nouns — names for a group of people
Collecting some collective nouns… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a list of 200 journalism cliches from the Washington Post…. Do you ever use cliches? Be honest! Of course the answer is
Throw these cliches in the garbage pail! Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a New York Times article about Internet-based hyperbole… My least favourite error is when someone says or writes, “I literally died.”
OMG! Internet-based hyperbole Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a Guardian article about a 26% decline in younger children using the library… When my children were tikes, I used to take them to a “library day”
Why we should worry about a decline in younger children using the library Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss an article and video about Kurt Vonnegut… I have a confession to make: I’ve never read a single book by Kurt Vonnegut (1922
You will be writing about your own life anyway… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a video on the perils of objectivity prepared by a group called The Lab, in conjunction with Canon Australia… For some
The perils of believing in objectivity… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss an article on how to beat procrastination with advice from psychologist Alexander Rozental…. Many Most writers suffer from procrastination of some form
Advice on how to beat procrastination Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a New Yorker article written by George Saunders… I try to read the New Yorker every week. Most weeks I manage at
A story should be honest, direct, loving, restrained Read More »