Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Some people just never seem to find the time to be able to write. Here is my best advice on how to prioritize writing…. I learned some hard lessons when I wrote my first book. It took me more than a year of angst-ridden, […]
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Reading time: Less than one 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 blog post about the writing speed of romance novelists…. When I meet with new clients,
Writing speed? 2,500 words per hour Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes There are many benefits of walking for writers. Staying in shape is one of them. But becoming more creative is the biggest gain… I have a neighbour who often drove her three kids to school. I’m too polite to have told her off for
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Reading time: About 3 minutes Many characteristics can help writers succeed. But here’s one you might not have thought of: Did you know it would help to learn how to develop grit? Some people see me as successful. Maybe this is because I was a senior editor at a then-large
Do your writing habits reveal grit? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes In view of last week’s death of American Supreme Court associate justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I am re-running a column I wrote in 2017 focusing on some of her writing advice…. I have long admired the feistiness, clear writing style and commitment to hard
Writing advice from the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes You’ve certainly heard of standing desks, but have you ever heard of walking ones? Here are some treadmill desk benefits… I am an eccentric. Here are some of my credentials: I have a computer file with all my recipes and I make a menu plan once
Why I’m writing this on a treadmill Read More »
Reading time: Just over 4 minutes Does your fine taste in reading make you despair about the quality of your own writing? Perhaps you have an expectation hangover…. Even when we write in a healthy way — without editing while writing and yet spending plenty of time editing, later —
Do you have an expectation hangover? Read More »
Reading time: Less than 4 minutes Do you want to write a book? It may help you to realize that a book is the natural result of a writing habit…. I read an article in the New York Times recently, exploring the relationship between swimming and happiness. I don’t swim
How to write a book as a side effect Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Arthur Quiller-Couch developed his famous maxim — murder your darlings — while working as a professor of English at Cambridge University near the turn of the last century. Here’s why his advice still applies to writers today…. I have a close friend, whose work
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Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Multi-tasking isn’t the good idea it’s often cracked up to be. But there are some especially important reasons why writers shouldn’t multi-task… I have a simple question I ask everyone I coach and it’s this: Do you let your computer collect your email for
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