We take for granted much of a book's white space: margins; paragraph indents; section breaks; extra space given to chapter-opening pages; extra space at the end of chapters left blank. Yet white space plays a crucial role in writing.  Continue reading...

There are some people we might describe as "Natural Writers." They write facilely and prolifically. They don't suffer from writer's block. But they also have some problems.  Continue reading...

I work with dozens of people every year who are trying to build the writing habit. Some succeed quickly. Others take much longer. When would-be-writers flail and flop, I can usually trace the problem back to one of these five mistaken beliefs.  Continue reading...

While it's true that Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Mark Twain all had messy workplaces, it's also certain that clean, organized desks keep most people efficient and more productive. I know that I'm always more prolific, more creative and happier when my desk is tidy. Which isn't to say that I'm always able to keep it that way. Some days I fear I must be suffering from Irritable Desk Syndrome.  Continue reading...

Whether you're an acrobat or a writer, you can do only one thing at a time. And, like the acrobats who watch their eating and drinking habits before performances, writers who spend some time thinking about what they want to write — before writing — are going to be better prepared for the demands of the job.  Continue reading...

While millions of people are tweeting and retweeting every day, a small fraction of them are also subtweeting, and if news stories are to be believed, they are not doing so very successfully. Recent news stories alerted me to the idea of subtweeting and got me thinking about the conversational aspects of Tweets and their sub-cousins.  Continue reading...