Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor from Melissa Hill… I’m glad to be in my 50s rather than my 20s. This thought crosses my mind frequently, as it did when I […]
Calmed by the metronome of his heartbeat… Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a piece of personification from Kent Haruf… I just finished reading the sweet and lovely novel, Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (pictured above.) The story of pair
Old tractors muttering up the street… Read More »
Reading time: Just over 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similes from novelist Paula McLain… I discovered the American writer Paula McLain through her wildly successful novel, The Paris Wife — a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage
The central bonfire licked the sky… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a simile from Ben McGrath… I was serious about canoeing as a young person. The high point of my life, when I was 16 years old, was an 80-mile
A monologue as unstoppable as a river… Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you ever suffer from literary envy? If so, today’s column is for you. I’ve been lucky enough to be born with little envy for other writers. I think this is because I’ve never identified primarily as a writer. My thing? Editing. I was born
How to stop envying other writers Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: exiguous… I didn’t enjoy the plot of the novel Saving Agnes by Rachel Cusk. But I found her writing remarkable. You can see some examples of
What does the word ‘exiguous’ mean? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a metaphor from a New York Times review of Benedict Cumberbatch playing Hamlet… I’m a big fan of the actor Benedict Cumberbatch. I find his acting to
Such whispery, self-effacing presences… Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Whenever I read, I copy my favourite lines and passages into my gigantic collection of quotes about writing. Here are some that have spoken to me at various phases of my writing life. 1) Reading and writing, like everything else, improve with practice. ~Margaret Atwood I particularly
Do you agree with these quotes about writing? 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 blog post written by Ann Betz… You may know me as someone who’s particularly keen on
Why metaphors are lint catchers for the brain Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes “Fail” is one of the most dreaded four-letter words. But it shouldn’t be! Here’s why you should overcome the fear of writing failure… When I worked in daily newspapers, in the early 1980s, I wrote and edited my stories on a computer. This was
Why we should WANT to fail as writers Read More »
