Blog

What makes you a better writer?

You may have heard the advice to read more and to write more. And that’s, of course, good advice. But there’s more …

To be a good writer, you also have to practice the art of noticing. Here’s how …Read more »

Which stories do you remember? And how have they influenced your life?

Intuitively, we all know the power of stories. They teach us what’s wrong and what’s right, who are heroes and who are villains. Stories help us make sense of who we are (or who we want to be).

Years ago, a powerful story embedded itself into my mind, influencing how I view the world …Read more »

Sometimes, you know, I feel like we’re getting distracted.

We focus on writing beautifully. We pick our words with care. We pay attention to punctuation. We try to avoid grammar and spelling goofs.

But do we forget the basics of writing well?
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Sometimes, I worry whether my writing is at risk of going stale.

I start to feel like I’m going around in circles. Sound familiar?

The most useful trick I’ve found for fixing creative staleness is to find fresh inspiration. So, I decided to read something completely different. Something outside my comfort zone …Read more »

Do you ever read a text and wonder … Why can’t I use words like that?

Some writers have a knack for dreaming up words that perfectly sketch an idea and paint a vivid image. How do they do it? Read more »

Do you ever wonder whether writing is easier for others?

You see people publishing new blog posts every week. Some people even publish a new book every year.

And it seems like they write without agony, without stress, without procrastinating.

But here’s the truth … Read more »

It’s been my practice to write a personal post at the end of each year.

But 2020 has been so complicated. I’ve found it at times hard to know what I was feeling. Uncertainty. Pain. Powerlessness. Sadness. Stress. Worry. Anxiety. Depression. Grief. Anger.

Still, I also felt lucky. I am good at being alone. I was already used to working from home, and I realized how much of a privilege this is …
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Can I just write?, asked A. All the SEO stuff bores me, and it kills my writing voice.

Sound familiar?

Often it may feel like writing for SEO means we can’t write well—as if writing for SEO doesn’t leave space for creativity, as if we have to choose between writing for readers and writing for Google. But that is not true. Shall I explain?Read more »

Writing is so weird, thinks Hannah.

She’d like to engage her readers. But her writing feels stilted … as if she’s talking into a vast empty space.

How can she feel closer to her readers? Read more »

“I’d like to reach through the screen, shove the clutter aside, and wipe a tear from my reader’s eye,” P. wrote to me.

Do you ever feel like that, too?

Do you feel like you want to puncture the online superficiality, and genuinely, warm-heartedly engage with your readers?
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