How to Beat Writer Procrastination

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Procrastination turns me into a drifter in my own house. Wandering through the kitchen. Making tea. Sighing. Scratching that sweet spot behind my dog’s floppy ear. When all my interviews are completed and my research is done, it’s the actual writing of the thing that can leave me staring into space. I’ve learned to beat writer’s procrastination with imagination and reward. I imagine how good it will feel to have the piece done. This emotional...
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Write What you Don’t Know

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I know that “write what you know” is good advice, ladled out by the pot-full to beginning writers. It does get you started when you don’t know what to write at all. Write about your quirky kids and all they’ve taught you, your trip to Mexico, your auto repair shop, what you eat and why you eat it. It’s a good place to start. More often than not, though, if you’re trying to make a...
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A Show Don’t Tell Master

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Christie Blatchford is my Show Don’t Tell Writing Guru. The National Post writer shows readers what she wants them to see, instead of spelling it out word by word. This is the hard way to write. But it’s the best way. Blatchford visits Union Station in downtown Toronto the day after RCMP arrest suspects in an alleged plot to derail a VIA Rail train. In the column she writes (click here to read it), she...
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