Reading time: Just over 1 minute It’s easy to spend your time processing email. The real challenge is to do the important work. Here’s how… Did you do anything important today? Note that I’m not asking whether you completed your “to do” list. Nor am I asking how many meetings […]
Do the important work first 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 »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Being a natural writer might sound like a good thing. Here’s why it usually isn’t… My 21-year-old son started singing when he was two years old. We’d taken the kids to a Raffi concert and it was comical the way we could see the lightbulb
Are you a natural writer? Here’s why that’s bad 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 Cal Newport blog post about the frustration of thinking… Even though I have no interest
How to make thinking more exciting Read More »
Reading time: Just over 2 minutes When making your holiday plans, think about the neuroscience of willpower and writing before taking your break… I’m a sucker for free shipping. In fact, that’s why there’s never any shipping charge for my own book. So, when I bought a bunch of Amazon titles for Christmas recently, it
Holidays, writing & the neuroscience of willpower Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes My husband and I recently returned from a three-week trip to Europe. Here is part 3 of a three-part series on each of the cities we visited. Today I focus on Vienna with a piece on the importance of accepting help from others. (Part 1, on Amsterdam, and part
Do you let others help you (write)? Read More »
Reading time: 2 and a half minutes Is perfectionism spoiling your writing? Here’s what you can tell yourself to deal with that problem… I’ve made many mistakes in my life. One of the most embarrassing ones relates to my brief but exciting life as a newspaper books editor in 1984.
It’s a great day to make mistakes Read More »
Word count: 700 words Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you suffer from writing shame? Even if you’re not aware of it, it may be the secret monster that’s sapping your writing strength…. When I was 10 years old, one summer morning I remember standing at my kitchen door,
How to overcome your writing shame Read More »
Word count: 391 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. Here is a link go an article arguing that many of us are simply too busy
Too busy to write? Read More »
Word count: 270 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 discover a variant of WrittenKitten! I know just enough about things technical to make
Searching for writing inspiration? Read More »
