contributorDaphne Gray-Grant Word CountWriters Talk About WritingSeven Ways to Stop Editing While You Write  January 11, 2012
When I started writing back in high school, I developed the nervous practice of producing a sentence and then going back to edit it, immediately. Perhaps you do the same thing? I advise you to take a hard look at your own writing and, break the instant-editing habit as quickly as possible.
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Article Topics:Word CountWriters Talk About WritingDo Writers Really Need to Learn Math? December 13, 2011I passed Grade 11 Math only by promising to never, ever, take math again. At the time, I thought it was a trick question! After seeing two of my kids struggle with learning disabilities, I now think I have dyscalculia. Regardless, I do an awful lot of basic arithmetic for my writing, and I think you might benefit from doing some too. Continue reading...Article Topics:Word CountWriters Talk About WritingFive Ways to Get Your Inner Critic to Shut Up November 9, 2011 By Daphne Gray-Grant
One of my 17-year-old daughters sometimes slaps the side of her own head and says, "Stupid, stupid." I don't think anyone -- particularly not one of my kids -- should ever call themselves stupid. But I see writers doing it all the time.
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Article Topics:Word CountWriters Talk About WritingFive Reasons Why You Shouldn't Outline October 10, 2011 By Daphne Gray-Grant
When I was a sullen high school student, many of my teachers demanded that we submit outlines with every essay. Forty years later, I still remember how we fooled most of them by writing our essays first and creating the outlines afterwards.
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Article Topics:Word CountWriters Talk About WritingIs Your Writing Hampered by a Shoulder Devil? September 19, 2011 By Daphne Gray-Grant
I was having coffee with a friend of mine recently and she started telling me about the "voices" inside her head. As soon as she described the voices, I laughed in recognition, "Oh, we all have devils on our shoulders!" I said.
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Article Topics:Word CountWriters Talk About WritingHow to Write for 700 Hours on Three AA Batteries August 22, 2011 By Daphne Gray-Grant
I'm embarrassed to admit that my handwriting is so bad and so physically uncomfortable for me that I no longer use a pen. Well, except for dire emergencies or for signing checks from the Bank of Mom (which some might call the same thing!) Instead, I use my Neo Alphasmart.
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Article Topics:Word CountWriters Talk About WritingAre You Asking the Right Questions for Your Writing? July 26, 2011 By Daphne Gray-GrantI like to play games with clients. I don't mean anything nasty by this! Quite the opposite: I play games because it helps make the learning more fun. Recently, I had a client -- a reporter -- who was having a hard time writing stories. Continue reading...Article Topics: |
