Counterproductive superlatives; Writers against AI; Australia creative grants: Newsletter 2 July 2025
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Counterproductive superlatives; Writers against AI; Australia creative grants: Newsletter 2 July 2025

Newsletter 101: Why writers puff up prose, and why it never works. Plus, an open letter to publishers, AI-generated books that never appear, three people to follow and three books to read. The superlative trap Hey, everyone! I’m the greatest, most talented, most super-accomplished writer that you’ve ever encountered. 🥳🎉🥳🎉 Admit it. You read that…

Blunt

Blunt

If you hire me as an editor and your work has problems, I’m going to tell you. And I’m not going to sugarcoat it, either. These are the kinds of comments I frequently make: I sometimes wonder why people don’t fire me, but so far, with more than 100 clients, no one has told me…

Vacation strategy; books Claude away; Grok rewrites history: Newsletter 25 June 2025
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Vacation strategy; books Claude away; Grok rewrites history: Newsletter 25 June 2025

Newsletter 100: A smarter way to go on holiday. Plus, Anthropic’s training on books rules “transformative,” defamation by blurbs, three people to follow and three books to read. How to go away Everyone needs time off. And people tend to disagree on how to do it. There’s the “disconnect entirely” camp. They don’t check email,…

Time heals all words

Time heals all words

Here’s how to cure one of the world’s most common writing problems. You’re writing an essay, a blog post, or part of a chapter . . . and something is just wrong. The words are somehow off. The logic isn’t persuasive. The point seems pointless. Writing more seems nauseating. Why write more when you’re disgusted…