Practice matters. That not-so-profound thought occurred to me while I was standing on the edge of a field recently, basking in the warmth of a glorious autumn afternoon and watching my 14-year-old daughter play soccer.

Okay, let's be honest, I wasn't standing so much as sitting in a lawn chair. I was also contemplating how much more fun it would have been if I'd thought to fill my water bottle, which was opaque, with something made from, say, hops. It's tough being a soccer mom, lipstick or not.  Continue reading...

You're 13 years old. It's a warm autumn Saturday and you're stuck at home, sprawled across the living-room couch, while all your friends are busy. "Mom," you say — dragging out the word to three syllables. "I'm bored. I have nothing to do."

"Go read a book," she says tartly. And you roll your eyes. Mothers just don't get it.  Continue reading...

A while ago I ran across a website written by a management consultant whose target audience included high-level executives. The home page copy was full of "I, I, I," as in "I do this, I do that, I was educated here, I've worked for these companies," blah, blah, blah.

Here's the plain truth: no one cares about you or your company.  Continue reading...

Do you have a supermodel you can consult with? Headline notwithstanding, I don't mean Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell or even that inimitable diva, Tyra Banks. (I call this column the Tyra Banks approach because I'm Canadian and irony is in my nature.)  Continue reading...

Advice to aspiring writers usually includes these words: "Write more." More words. More pages. More chapters, poems, articles.

But I have a different suggestion: To become a better writer, write less.

No, not less frequently. But with fewer words. Lots fewer. As in... no more than 140 characters' worth.

What? And why?  Continue reading...

"Bill Gates once asked me, 'Could you make me more human?' I said, 'Being human is overrated.'"

This doubly priceless quote comes from Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's former campaign strategist. (Hat tip: The Atlantic.)

When it comes to writing copy, the human touch is still vital. Here are some tips for making copy that reads like a human being wrote it.  Continue reading...