5 ways to make receiving feedback less painful

I'm not telling you to develop a thick skin, because you may never manage that. But I am telling you to be brave. And most of all, clever.

The Time and Place for Passive Voice

How to talk about passive voice as a useful thing? An okay thing? An allowed thing? So many of us as writers have received the advice that we need to change the passive voice in our work to active voice. This is good and important advice. You should do that.

Reading too much passive voice is unpleasant and boring. But, contrary to what short, insightful, and thought provoking nuggets of wisdom like write in active voice would have you think, passive voice has a place in your prose. Albeit, a sparing one.

How to change passive voice into active voice

Certainly, you may already know about being verbs and adverbs. Maybe you've heard about this enough already. If you have, you can skip down to the advice.

But in case you haven't heard of being verbs, adverbs and action verbs, here's a quick breakdown.

Pancake-Making as a Metaphor for Writing

I'm getting better at making pancakes. Rather, I'm getting better at making pancakes the way I like them, which is, of course, the point. Buttery golden brown, soft in the middle, with a rim of good, light crunch around the edge. Weekend mornings of my childhood featured light smoke drifting from the kitchen into the … Continue reading Pancake-Making as a Metaphor for Writing →

Writing Life: Time Change

I have one particular writing nemesis, and that's the time change. Every year at around this time -- when it's getting dark at 7p and earlier -- my writing suffers. I write in the evening, after coming home from work, but now, the encroaching darkness tricks my brain into thinking it's bedtime. I can't possibly … Continue reading Writing Life: Time Change →

Writing with Anxiety: Be Afraid and Write It Anyway

Anxiety in writing often derives not from a fear of writing itself. In truth, we writers fear audience judgement.

Reasons to Skip NaNoWriMo This Year

I want to address some arguments for NaNoWriMo and present other solutions to your writing woes.