I’ve been writing professionally for 46 years. I’ve written everything you can imagine. And it all made me smarter. From writing software documentation, I learned to be brief, logical, and clear. I also learned what it took to turn a bunch of text into a manual, which is, after all, a book. From writing research…
I give out a lot of free advice. Somebody thinks they might want to write a book. Or their boss does. So they contact me and we discuss how the book business works, and how it might work for them. What’s your objective? Who is your audience? What is your idea? How does ghostwriting work?…
Payton Pritchard is a solidly built 6-foot 1-inch guard on the NBA’s Boston Celtics. Nearly every time he appears in a game, he’s the shortest man on the court. In Sunday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia, Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Pritchard scored 32 points in 35 minutes…
I take enormous pride in my writing and editing projects. I like to take on projects that look extremely challenging and succeed anyway, and to charge accordingly. Sometimes those risks pay off; sometimes they don’t. Editorial work is more about making other people look good, which is mostly a behind the scenes effort. But I…
Who you are determines how you explain the world. I know I’m generalizing, but typically, when faced with a challenge . . . Engineers see problems and processes. Architects see spaces. Teachers see opportunities for learning. Doctors see conditions and ways to treat them. Software developers see algorithms. Soldiers see enemies and allies and weapons….
Newsletter 145. Why, even in your sixties, standing still means going backwards. Plus, journalists draw the line on AI, why your family doesn’t love your memoir, three people to follow, three books to read, and one place to draw your own line against AI encroachment. Conserve or create? In the heart of our careers, we…
People: AI doesn’t. That’s why there will always be room for people, and why human writing, even when flawed, is often better.
Each of us must now daily deal with organizational stupidity. It might be stupid policies at your job, stupid rules of your homeowners association, stupid government and tax policies, or the stupid way the health care system works. But the result is the same: a set of rules set up ostensibly for good and reasonable…
Think for a minute about the creative work you do. Which of these categories best describes your creative work? With these categories in mind, let’s consider two questions: are you the author of your work, and are you growing and learning? Are you the author of your work? Who deserves the byline on what you…