“Miracle and Wonder” audiobook reveals the true Paul Simon — plus a few secrets about Malcolm Gladwell

“Miracle and Wonder” audiobook reveals the true Paul Simon — plus a few secrets about Malcolm Gladwell

I listened to Malcolm Gladwell and Paul Headlam’s new five-hour audiobook Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon. It fascinated, entertained, and touched me — even though it had a little more Gladwell in it than we really needed. This is an audiobook unlike any other If you’re interested in “Miracle and Wonder,” you need…

If you write, “Put on your oxygen mask first,” I’ll have to smother you
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If you write, “Put on your oxygen mask first,” I’ll have to smother you

Today in the war on clichés, I take on “Put on your oxygen mask first.” Have you heard this before? You have? Then why would you write it as if it is some sort of new and revealing insight? Damn, I’m sick of reading this — and of deleting it in the things I edit….

How important are bookstores to business authors?

How important are bookstores to business authors?

If you’re a business book author, you are probably imagining your book on the shelf in the local Barnes & Noble, independent bookstore, or airport bookstore. But before you pursue that vision, you ought to think it through, because attaining bookstore placement comes with lots of challenges. As context for this discussion, consider two sales…

Repetition in writing: why it happens, what it means, and how to fix it
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Repetition in writing: why it happens, what it means, and how to fix it

Every editor has had this experience: deep into a manuscript, you find yourself reading a familiar passage. Sure enough, it duplicates content that was earlier in the manuscript. Don’t just delete it. Ask yourself why it’s there, and use that knowledge to make the manuscript better. Why writers repeat themselves All writers repeat information in…

On retainer: the economics of retainers for editors and other professionals
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On retainer: the economics of retainers for editors and other professionals

I usually charge people by the project. But for some ongoing relationships, I charge a monthly retainer. While this arrangement is good for freelancers, clients need to think carefully about whether it’s appropriate for them. How a retainer arrangement works Here’s the mechanics of a retainer arrangement, or at the least the kind that I’ve…

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi showed us flow. Writers need flow. And tech destroys it.
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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi showed us flow. Writers need flow. And tech destroys it.

Last week, the great psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi died. Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chik-sent-mee-hai-ee) advanced our understanding of happiness and creativity enormously by codifying the concept of “flow,” a highly pleasurable and concentrated state of mind in which people are enormously productive. Every writer needs to know about flow — what it is, why it is important, and…

The writing room door

The writing room door

Of all the tools and methods that writers use, having a door on your writing space — and closing it — may be the most powerful. A fellow writer about to undertake the months-long process of creating a book recently asked for advice about the need for concentration — and how to balance that with…