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.
Word count: 286 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 writers. Today, I present an article on nominalizations. Are you familiar with “nominalizations”? These are verbs (action words) or […]
What happens when you turn a verb into a noun? Read More »
Word count: 327 words 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 writers. Today’s article comes from Geoffrey O’Brien, general editor of the 18th edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. For
Are we what we quote? Read More »
Word count: 311 words 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 writers. Today I offer information on the illiteracy rate in America. My son didn’t learn to read
Illiteracy is a “disease” that can last generations… Read More »
Word count: 241 words 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 writers. Today I provide a link to a blog post by prolific writer Vivek Wadhwa. I want to
Speak fearlessly, from the heart… Read More »
Word count: 353 words 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 writers. Today, I focus on a remembrance of Nora Ephron. When my mother died in 2005, I
About Norah Ephron’s final act… Read More »
Word count: 329 words Reading time: About 1.5 minutes This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help writers. Today I write about a blog post that warned self-published authors about troubles with Amazon. I was
Blog rings alarm bell for self-published authors Read More »
Word count: 338 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help writers. Today I link to an article about writing memoir by Alexander Stille from The New York Times.
The perils of writing memoir Read More »
Word count: 295 words 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 writers. Today I find an interesting piece on the problem of too much attention. I usually work with
The opposite of distracted… Read More »
Word count: 440 words Reading time: About 1.5 minutes This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help writers. Today, I discuss John Lehrer’s apology for plagiarism. I was a longtime fan of Jonah Lehrer. I
Word count: 271 words 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 writers. Today, I look at a new book on introverts. If you’re a writer you might want
The power of introverts Read More »
