Word count: 224 words Reading time: Less than 1 minute A great way to improve your writing skills is to emulate the work of others. Here is a sentence about boxer Claressa Shields that I’d happily imitate. I have almost no interest in sport unless you include hiking and canoeing (which probably aren’t actually […]
If Claressa Shields were a man… Read More »
Word count: 765 words Reading time: About 3 minutes It’s taken me a year of work, but, at last, I’ve replaced my old website with this brand new blog. Please, check it out… This will make me sound old-fashioned, or maybe just old, but I can recall when the TV universe could be contained by
Hey, please check out my new blog! Read More »
Word count: 730 words Reading time: About 2.75 minutes Do you have good luck when you shop? When you write? While luck is marvellous, it’s not something you should count on any more than you’d expect to be able to find a really cheap tuxedo. Read on to learn why…. My 17-year-old son is 6
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Word count: 648 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes It’s interesting what people from different creative arts can teach each other. Here is a lesson painter Mark Rothko recently emphasized for me. Six days ago, the only thing I knew about painter Mark Rothko, was that he was an abstract expressionist. (Here are some examples
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Word count: 694 words Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Are you one my subscribers who thinks I’m crazy to counsel AGAINST outlining? Read on to learn why I do this…. When I was a sullen high school student, many of my teachers demanded that we submit outlines with every essay. We fooled most of them by
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Word count: 750 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Do you take your writing too seriously? Your writing can be serious — but you don’t have to be! Lighten up and throw a few beach balls at your readers! My 17-year-old son (he’s the person who wrote the music for my Click Flick) is the assistant sound manager
Are you giving your readers enough beach balls? Read More »
Word count: 719 words Reading time: About 3 minutes Today I answer a question from a reader who is struggling with the demands of academic writing. My response hinges on mindmapping Read on to learn more…. A reader named Autumn Alexander submitted the following question to the Publication Coach: “I’ve trained as a journalist and
Mindmapping that works vs TMI Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Improve your writing habits by ensuring you get a change, even if you can’t get a rest… I recently hitched my wagon to a Bombardier Regional Jet (followed by a rental car) and spent five days wandering Saskatchewan. I was speaking at a conference for the Canadian Public Relations Society
Do your writing habits need changing? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes We know music has charms to soothe a savage breast. But can a little background music help the savage writer? Read on to find out. After I’d graduated from grade 12 and moved on to higher learning — English 100 and Philosophy 120 — I discovered that my school had
Does your writing require some background music? Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes Today’s column is five-step guide on how to kill creativity. Follow these steps carefully, and I guarantee you’ll never be able to avoid writer’s block ever again! There I was, sitting in a doctor’s office, waiting for my appointment. Actually, it was much later than my allotted time because the doctor
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