Writing tips
We all have a love-hate relationship with writing.
Don’t give up! I’ve got all kinds of tricks for busting through writer’s block, finding your voice, telling your story, and cleaning up your copy. Get started here:
One thing you shouldn’t leave home without
I like to think of ideas as little fireflies. They’re brilliant and bright, but hard to catch. Now you see them, now you don’t. That is, unless you write them down. How many times have you been out in the world—walking your dog, browsing a corkboard at a coffee shop,...
How to torque with integrity
When I worked as a journalist, there was one thing you didn’t want to let an editor talk you into doing, and that was torquing your story. Especially if you were an ethical journalist writing about issues you cared about. To “torque” means to apply force to something,...
Are you asking too many questions?
First things first: I LOVE questions. I pride myself on being a pretty good asker-of-questions. Former journalist, active listener, curious mind. Asking great questions takes intelligence and empathy—traits I appreciate tremendously. I think this is why I'm a little...
How to be funny (in writing)
I don't consider myself a funny person. I do LOVE a lot of funny people (and some of them even let me hang out with them). In social situations, I'm the quiet one with the occasional zinger. Yet I'm pretty sure nobody would describe me as a funny girl. But sometimes...
Dash vs. hyphen
Are you using the right one? I recently developed a new philosophy for style tips I share with clients. And no, I'm not talking about fashion, because nobody should listen to me on that. "Style" is writing and editing terminology for the punctuation, capitalization...
How to make your brand magnetic to the brand-immune
I have a confession to make. You know me as someone who deals in branding, and it's true—I help small businesses build and grow their brands through storytelling, helpful marketing, and authentic communication. And I love what I do. But as a consumer I have always...
Do this to make your copy tighter and brighter
Last week I wrote about revision, starting with the very fact that...it should happen. I'm following up with a list of words you can cut from your writing. A little nip/tuck can make your work tighter, brighter and easier to read. 1. Extra words in a list. Sometimes...
My special six revision tricks
A fellow business owner and coach asked me the sweetest question the other day. As an experienced writer, do my words flow just as I want them to on the first try? The answer was no—heck no! Revision is one of the secrets to great writing. I'm a big advocate of...
Burnout = creativity killer (and my favourite way to avoid it)
The other day, I completely spaced out. I was riding my bike downtown to meet my partner after work. I was physically present in the world but mentally elsewhere. I zipped right past the safe street with the bike lane, the street I was supposed to take right. Instead,...
Your writing voice, and how to find it
In the lead-up to last weekend's Virtual Writing Retreat for Entrepreneurs (which went swimmingly, by the way!), I asked participants to tell me about their writing struggles. Voice was one of the subjects that came up the most. These entrepreneurs found it elusive,...