For Authors
Notable nonfiction authors focus on telling the truth within captivating stories told via creative techniques. When done well, our stories read like fiction.
Commentary
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[...]
Reference Books about Writing
Do you have a word nerd for a mother? If so, consider getting her another writing book from the following[...]
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
The most complete style guide I've ever found is the Chicago Manual of Style. Originally written in 1906 for scholarly[...]
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[...]