I spent a lot of time in front of screens this year. I mean, a lot of time. If I wasn’t fixated on CNN waiting for updates on the coronavirus pandemic, I was in front of a computer monitor — working on client projects, writing freelance articles, and trying to finish the second draft of my first novel. As the year evolved, I realized my writing had changed in three ways — ways significant enough […]
Michael Popke
30 posts
An estimated 1.6 billion holiday cards will be purchased and sent this season, according to the Greeting Card Association. And that number has remained surprisingly steady over the past several years. “People were starting to use email as a replacement, but over time they found they weren’t making the same meaningful connection,” Peter Doherty, executive director of the Greeting Card Association, told the Chicago Tribune last December. It’s worth noting that Doherty’s figures don’t include […]
As July 4th approaches, you may be ready to make some noise and celebrate what Bob Seger refers to as “the height of summer.” So maybe writing isn’t a priority over the next few days, but there are plenty of ways to add color and crackle to your writing all year long. Here are three of them: 1. Get active. Clean, clear and concise writing relies on consistent use of the active voice — an action verb […]
We’re all editors these days. Well, at least we should be. Whenever we write — be it a business proposal, a research paper, an article, a blog post, an email, a social media comment or even a text — we should edit ourselves. But who am I kidding? Seems like self-editing has gradually become a thing of the past, just like the evening newspaper and letters written in longhand. The truth is, anything poorly written or […]
When you’re booking a hotel, making a restaurant reservation or considering which book to read next, do you check out the online reviews? My own unscientific research suggests people who write those reviews do it for one of four reasons: 1. They’re bored. 2. They want attention. 3. They have a gripe (legitimate or not) and need to vent. 4. They truly want to be helpful and let other consumers know and learn from their […]
Aug. 11 marks the four-year anniversary of actor and comedian Robin Williams’ death. I’ve been thinking about the man lately, especially with the recent publication of David Itzkoff’s 550-page biography Robin and the new documentary, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, which debuted on HBO earlier this month. One of my all-time favorite films is Dead Poets Society, the Peter Weir-directed story of an English teacher who arrives at a stuffy private academy in Vermont in […]