BLOG

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, Eric Metaxas uses the term "lickety-split" to describe the speed at which Hitler announced his choice for a replacement in a key army post. I love it. I don't think Metaxas used lickety-split because his vocabulary isn't ...

Wrestling does not interest me in the least. I never watch it, unless it's happening in my family room in which case the wrestlers get kicked out into the backyard. But I have read about wrestling, simply because the writing was so ...

When I first began to write, I wondered how to come up with story ideas. My friend and fellow writer Sue Careless patiently explained that story ideas were "everywhere!" If you walk by a store window and look at the merchandise, she ...

I had a conversation recently with a fellow writer about being funny. My friend wants to introduce humour into her writing. She's someone who often writes about heavy, political topics, that don't easily lend themselves to hilarity. We don't often chortle over ...

If you are a writer and a parent who has ever used a charming – or not so charming – anecdote about your children to start a story, you’ll want to read Phoebe Maltz Bovy’s article “The Ethical Implications of Parents Writing ...

Writing awards are sweet and sour. Like my mother's meatballs. Only worse. The first time I entered a piece in a writing contest, I was secretly certain that I would/could/should win. I did not win. And worse, I received judge's comments in ...

As a new year of writing begins, it can be helpful to take a few moments and actively plan an approach to expanding writing horizons and going deeper where you already are. My year already includes some fairly hefty projects, including acting as managing ...

I do not eat Gorgonzola. At least not to the extent that Emma Teitel does, but I did relate to her column in a recent MacLean's, where she writes about the perils from working from home — as a writer. Teitel writes: ...

I'm right in the middle of a collaborative, creative project. I am taking the supportive role in this one, viewing rough footage of two thought leaders in the simple living and justice movement in conversation with each other. I jot down what strikes ...

What are your favourite writing books? Most writers I know went through a time in their professional development when they were reading more about writing than actually doing any writing. I look back at that stage as my cocooning — necessary and ...

Will Ferguson's Giller-Prize winning novel, 419, features Laura, an editor, as the main character. It was fun to peek inside the life of a freelance copy editor, even at a horrible moment in her life. She is a hero, of course, as ...

National Post writer Ben Kaplan's article "A Runner Hits the Wall"  grabbed me for its honesty about the writing life. Kaplan shares the harsh criticism, "awful on all levels," he received years ago from a failed screenplay, and then his more recent ...