Being a writer is an awfully fun gig and I absolutely love what I do. The sheer bliss of stringing words together is like weaving magic on a page and there really is no thrill that can compare to doing that well. But I’ve come to the point in life where I also like sharing that knowledge, and one of my other favourite things to do is to coach other writers in their own evolution. Once a writer has learned how to structure their work well, and can write with a certain amount of style, I like t

Writing well involves many fluid skill sets and distilling them all down into a concrete process risks eliminating the creative magic that can make a story really cook. And although I respect the rules of the writing road, I also love the excitement of steering onto an unmarked trail and letting my imagination take the wheel. Even when I’m writing for business.

The word "writer" often conjures dreamy visions of languid afternoons and ink-stained papers but I have to say that the reality, at least for me, is somewhat less romantic . As a corporate communications writer with my feet planted firmly in the business world, my work days are packed with research, first drafts, revisions and deadlines. And although I am a published novelist (www.shadesofteale.com) there is a lot of technical practicality involved in my writing. Solid structure, grammatical acc

People are sometimes surprised to find that writing well depends upon a number of different skill sets and that the writing itself is sometimes just the icing on the cake. A typical corporate newsletter project, for example, might require a dozen or more articles around a specific theme. What does that involve? Let’s take a look:

I’ve heard a number of communicators lament the fact that corporate approval processes tend to erase every whiff of creativity from internal communications documents. I get that there are a lot of reasons for that. Creativity can lend itself to ambiguity and as communicators we need to be strategic, accurate, methodical and professional. Keeping within a specified word count is usually important as well, and in the drive to get the most information across in the least amount of space, we often..

I’m a little slow getting up to full speed this year owing to a record-setting three-week Christmas holiday. It was fun! I spent most of my time hanging out with my family but I did set some goals for 2012 and these will help me filter my activity through the lens of success. As new opportunities crop up, I will be asking myself if they will bring me...