Notable nonfiction authors focus on telling the truth within captivating stories told via creative techniques. When done well, our stories read like fiction.
Commentary
Improve your Craft with a Writing Reference Book
Are you a word nerd? If so, consider getting a writing reference book from the following list and support your[...]
Have people improved the world by writing? Of course. Every great movement towards freedom, responsibility, economic viability and health has begun[...]
What can you learn from Obama’s farewell speech?
Did you hear the United States President Barack Obama's farewell speech last week? This single hour epitomized Obama's mastery at writing[...]
Outliers: Ten Lessons about Success
Malcolm Gladwell wants to change how people think about success with his 2008 book, Outliers. Successful individuals do not get[...]
The Power of Speech: Tips from Three Famous Speakers
Powerful speeches stay popular long after their initial use because of originality, timeliness and character. The emotion a person has[...]
Design via Style Guide
By following instructions in style guides, writers can give readers consistent visual clues to the place, values and identity of[...]
Tools
My Three Favourite Website Tools for Writers
There are lots of different possible website tools for writers. Here are the three I use most. Google Almost everything[...]
Technical Tools for Writers
What in the world do I mean by “technical tools” for writers? There are many possible tools a writer might[...]
Four Crucial Social Media Tools
I created a video about how I use four crucial social media tools: Yahoo for groups, Facebook for friends, Twitter[...]
Writing Guides
Canadian Press Stylebook
This revised 1940 classic makes a handy companion to the Chicago Manual of Style for Canadian writers. I have the[...]
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
If you think grammar can't be fun, this book is definitely for you. As Louis Menand points out in his[...]
Notable Nonfiction: Chicago Manual of Style
For the most complete style guide possible, refer to the Chicago Manual of Style. Originally written in 1906 for scholarly book and[...]
On Writing Well
Reading William Zinsser's classic tome, On Writing Well is like travelling with a beloved mentor. Every page summarizes important lessons[...]
The Elements of Style
William Strunk and E.B. White's Elements of Style makes grammar easy. The 105-page book makes for a quick read too. Despite[...]