Time and space to play
Hunt out the zombies in your writing
Who’s listening?
Nothing is more paralysing than speaking to people who know more than you do about the very thing you’re speaking about. Students sometimes write badly for a related reason. They write with defensive terror, knowing the person reading the essay…
Reading for an overview
How can you quickly grasp the essence of an article and work out if it will be useful to you? First, read the abstract, which summarises the article. Check the introduction and then the conclusion. If the content appears relevant,…
Keeping subject and verb together
When the blank page is your friend
I’m always reading about the tyranny of the blank page, the terror of starting something new. But once you’ve got going, when you’re drafting, and especially when you’re editing, the blank page can be your friend. When I can’t see…