My back is both my fiercest enemy and my dearest friend. It’s an enemy because I often wake up with an aching thoracic spine...

Many of us postpone doing things we don’t like. Taxes (guilty!) Washing dishes (guilty, occasionally.) Making the bed (at least I overcame this one...

I like collecting quotes about writing. A while ago, I stumbled across this one from Albert Einstein: “Look deep into nature and you will begin...

Readers ask me about grammar, a lot. I don’t quite know why. I make more than my share of grammatical mistakes. And my wonderful...

I’ll never forget the time my teenage daughter, Claire, announced she wanted to make a nosegay of Ferrero Rocher chocolates as a gift for a...

I really, really, really, really didn’t want to write today’s column. I’ve been covered in hives all week (the result of an allergy to...

The Publication Coach A friend of mine once emailed me despairing over her very bright teenager’s inability to finish an essay. The essay was...

Do you ever set aside an entire afternoon for writing? Or, better yet, what about a whole weekend? You get someone else to do...

How are you at handling criticism? I don’t mean comments about your driving or your housework or your management style. And I particularly don’t...

When I was a callow teenager and completed my honours political science thesis in June 1979, I finished it only because my professor declined...