WritingTipsTag
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October 20, 2025Writing Protagonists Who Don’t Care If You Like Them
As writers, we want our readers to connect with our protagonists, to root for them and relate to them. It makes sense – human connection is at the heart of storytelling. If a reader just utterly hates ...
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April 03, 2025How to Avoid Blank Page Syndrome: The Jar Method
When I’m editing, there are specific problems to tackle, and I find I have a clear to-do list. Even if there’s a lot to do, I have a road map, but at the beginning of a project, I get so easily daunted ...
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March 28, 202510 Self-Care Tips for Writers
Self-care is more than a long candlelit bath and chocolate—it’s prioritizing your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. As someone with anxiety and chronic depression, I’ve learned the hard ...
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October 17, 2024How I’m Adjusting My Writing Routine for Autumn & Winter
Many of us in the Northern Hemisphere are now well into autumn coolness. As I write this I have all the windows open and I actually feel chilly—an unfamiliar, almost exciting feeling.To me, fall feels ...
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September 30, 2024Four Weird Tricks for Maintaining Writing Momentum
As someone who doesn’t have a set writing routine, I’m always on the lookout for practical strategies to consistently keep my work going. Today I’d like to share four of my favourite tricks for ...
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August 20, 2024Promoting Your Book Online: Literary Citizenship
In my last column, I shared tips for promoting your book online without burnout. I covered making a marketing plan ahead of your book launch, defining boundaries around what you share online, and cultivating ...
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March 01, 2024Grant Writing 101: Changes to Canada Council Grants
There are changes at the Canada Council! They were posted without any fanfare or public announcement, but the Canada Council for the Arts has made some significant changes to their granting programs. DeadlinesThere ...
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October 02, 2023Book Launch Season, Part 2: Being an Audience Member
In the first part of “Book Launch Season,” I talked about how to enter this period of time as an author. Writers are (I hope) readers. As a poet especially, going to readings and sitting there as ...
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March 25, 2022Writing as an Actor
I went to theatre school when I was 18. In many ways it was the worst choice I could have made. I was not temperamentally suited to the life of an actor. But the lessons I learned in theatre school have ...
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March 22, 2022Writing as a Calligrapher
The word calligraphy comes from the Greek. Kali, meaning beautiful, and Graphos, meaning writing. Beautiful writing. It’s a term that was coined after the invention of the printing press, after the ...
