Improve your Writing
November 18th, 2020Twitter and Facebook have a lot to answer for: rampant misinformation, spiralling conspiracy theories, plummeting productivity. (And that’s just in my family!) But I fear social media echo chambers are […]
read more...4 tips for moving past mere ranting to effective persuasionOur Advocacy Work
May 12th, 2020Is it possible to eat your weight in popcorn? I appear to be trying. The pandemic lock-down has also given me permission to double my chocolate intake, consume cookies at […]
read more...How to Cope with the Coronavirus ShutdownImprove your Writing
April 6th, 2020In Stalinist Russia, poet Anna Akhmatova’s husband was shot and her son imprisoned. Every day for months she stood outside the prison walls begging for word about her son’s fate. […]
read more...“Poet, can you write this?” We need to write the post-coronavirus reality we want nowImprove your Writing
April 12th, 2017Gloria Steinem… senior bureaucrats… somebody who funds the kind of work you do? Whose attention would you most like to attract? In recent years, Canadian women writing timely, engaging […]
read more...Whose attention would you most like to attract?Improve your Writing
August 13th, 2013Let’s say you have a graduate degree and/or 20 years of experience in your field, and you’re used to speaking or writing for people who are similarly well-informed. Chances are […]
read more...2 words to make your writing more accessibleImprove your Writing
December 31st, 2012Celebrated American poet and critic, Ezra Pound, in his considered advice to beginning poets offered the following advice: “Pay no attention to the criticism of men who have never themselves written […]
read more...New Year’s Resolution: How to disregard criticism by applying the “reasonable man” testImprove your Writing
August 23rd, 2012Far too much research has already documented that when something goes wrong, women are highly inclined to blame the problem or setback on their own deficiencies. This tendency operates in […]
read more...Most common errors made by aspiring op ed writers – part 2Improve your Writing
August 9th, 2012If you saw the following sentence at the start of a piece in your daily newspaper, would you keep reading? “You don’t see a lot of naked men in advertising.” […]
read more...Don’t Bury the Lede!Improve your Writing
July 29th, 2012Whether you’re picked last for the ball team, get rebuffed on the first date, or fail to elicit a positive response from an editor, rejection stinks. That’s why Informed Opinions […]
read more...Most Common Errors Made by Aspiring Op Ed Writers – part 1Improve your Writing
May 26th, 2012In the middle of delivering an op ed writing workshop recently to a very engaged group of United Way staff and volunteers from across Ontario (organized through Sean Moore‘s fabulous […]
read more...Think “outcome” when crafting an op ed