Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About 3 minutes How you think about stress is an excellent predictor of your success in being able to manage it…. By Ann Gomez Have you ever been on a turbulent flight? Most of us have experienced some type of scare, whether the threat was real or perceived, when flying. If you’re like me, when faced with any sort of rough patch, you look to the flight attendants to determine if there is any real danger. If I don’t detect any visible reaction from the flight attendants, I know I can happily return to my work, or go back to reading, or listening to my current fav ..read more

Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About 1 minute Today, I’m saying thanks to my readers and asking for a bit of special help (not money!) in return…. This post marks my 935th blog and my 18th year as a blogger. Where the heck did all that time go? If you’re a long-time reader, THANK YOU for your perseverance and loyalty. I really appreciate it. If you’re a new reader, apologies for this “inside baseball” column. I don’t generally toot my own horn or talk about how the sausages are made. Instead, I just try to provide worthwhile advice about how to write better, faster. Of course, some things hav ..read more

Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About 2 minutes Have you ever wondered if music helps writers focus? Researchers have been able to give us a few inklings…. By Ann Gomez After a recent workshop, I received an email from an associate who asked a great question: Do you have any thoughts on listening to music while working? I will put on different music during different tasks or parts of the day and have convinced myself it helps me stay focused. But…isn’t this multi-tasking? I admit I had to respond with a bit of the standard “consultant” answer, which is: it depends! Listening to music while you ..read more

Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About 3 minutes It’s sometimes surprising how much we can learn about writing from our animal friends… My husband was in our back yard last week doing some gardening when he spotted a cat-sized, big-eyed mammal. It spotted him, too, and it quickly dived under our deck. “Whoa,” my husband said. “That isn’t a native species.” That’s, in fact, the way my husband talks. His undergrad degree in zoology from many decades ago leaks out of him with the least provocation. He ran inside to grab one of his reference books and decided that what he’d seen was a ferret. “That ..read more

Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About one minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world for material to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about a fake morning commute…. My morning commute takes me all of 10 seconds. I get out of bed, turn right, and then walk up a set of stairs to my office in our loft. (Yes, I work from 6 to 6:30 am in my PJs.) I’ve been doing this for more than 25 years now, and I’d have a really hard time ever returning to a conventional office. Not because I don’t like offices! But because I’d resent the commute to ..read more

Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About 3 minutes If you’re tired of being tired, check out today’s post for some simple and practical tips that will help you get more shut-eye… By Ann Gomez In my last column, I shared the importance of prioritizing sleep, and why our sleep is not a luxury but a necessity. Just like your car needs regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly, so too your body needs sleep in order to do important “repair work.” These crucial repairs improve our cognition and our mood by making it easier for us to focus, follow complex thoughts, and make decisions. Sleep even i ..read more

Credit: ERIC WATTS Reading time: About 3 minutes If you don’t learn how to tell better stories, you’re at risk of losing your clients to the ChatGPT monster… We had 13 people over for a big, celebratory dinner last night — the most I’ve hosted since the start of the pandemic — and we wrapped up the evening with a gigantic carrot cake featuring the number 30. The occasion? A combined Easter dinner and birthday party for our triplets. Our children were born 30 years ago this weekend, and while one of them is no longer with us (she died of a brain tumour in 2022), I still refer to them as triple ..read more

Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About one minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world for material to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about how to survive the afternoon slump…. Do you find yourself starting to yawn when the clock hits 3 pm? You’re not alone! Many writers — in fact, many working people — experience exactly the same feeling. If you’re lucky enough to work from home, a recent post on the Freelancer FAQs website, offers some helpful tips. Here’s a quick summary: 1 Opt For a Light Lunch – Rather than eating simple carbs ..read more

Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About 2 minutes A broken treadmill doesn’t help anyone. But fixing that treadmill can teach you a useful lesson for later in your writing life… My favourite piece of writing equipment is not a special pen or notebook or even keyboard. It’s my treadmill desk. I get 20,000 steps most workdays (that’s almost nine miles or 14 kilometres) because I walk while writing — or thinking, or researching, or talking on the phone. “How do you type while you’re walking?” is the number one question people ask me when I talk about the treadmill. This query always amuses me becau ..read more

Credit: UNSPLASH Reading time: About 3 minutes Some tasks — like writing — can be hard to do. That’s why it’s important for you to start feeling comfortable with discomfort… Does the act of writing ever make you feel uncomfortable? Perhaps it bores you just a little. Maybe it makes you feel frightened. Possibly, it frustrates you. These are all perfectly normal feelings and emotions, by the way. You shouldn’t feel ashamed of them or try to just barrel on past them. In fact, trying to suppress feelings like these is only likely to make you stop writing. Instead — bear with me here, because I k ..read more