Negative writing tips, I find, can be just as helpful as a positive ones. And, often, they're far more memorable. Here, then, are 17 things you should stop doing immediately, if you want to improve your writing.  Continue reading...

There's a funny ad on TV right now about a guy named Dave. A red-headed man with a beard, he wanders into his office and greets a large number of other bearded red-headed guys also named Dave. Someone named Dave is fixing the photocopier while a mail delivery person, also named Dave, arrives with a package for, you guessed it, Dave.  Continue reading...

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.  Continue reading...

I 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...

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.  Continue reading...

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.  Continue reading...

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.  Continue reading...