Have you ever read something where it felt like someone was literal screaming on the roof? That’s probably been done in a draft before. Emphasis is such a strong impulse that we type in all caps to scream at readers when characters gets mad or to try to sound urgent in our marketing pitches. But […]

A paragraph reads like this: the words are all long and cumbersome. The rhythm plods along, and you’re stumbling over every third sentence. Now another paragraph reads like this: the words fly by quickly, the beat hits you right in your ear. That distinction is often a matter of syllable balance. This has nothing to […]

There’s something curious about the curse of reading resolutions: they’re like savings plans and gym memberships. In the abstract, they seem completely plausible. They’re an ideal in the cold winter air. You picture yourself annotating memoirs on Sunday afternoon or gorging on classics during your commute. And then reality hits: January is as messy as […]

If you’re like me, you’ve got a pile of incomplete books on your read-it-later list. These digital ghosts are lingering evidence of good ideas that went bad at chapter 40. We tend to view the impulse to quit a book as an act of impatience or a moral failing, which can make you feel anxious. […]