Author: Mary

Mary is a full-time developmental editor, non-fiction ghostwriter, collaborator, and writing coach. She helps business owners grow their business by becoming a published author.
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What Mark Carney’s Davos Speech Can Teach You About Powerful Writing

A photograph of a smartly-dressed, white male giving a speech in front of a crowd

I got excited when I heard Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s special address at The World Economic Forum in Davos[1] .

It was his reference to Havel’s greengrocer sign that caught my attention.

I wasn’t familiar with the original parable, but I noticed Carney used it as a metaphor throughout his speech, which gave me the idea for this post.

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My Typical Writing Habit

A brown-skinned lady is typing on her laptop. The open laptop is on a wooden desk. A cup of herbal tea, and a notebook and pen are also on the table.

In the 1990 psychological thriller Misery, there’s a scene that tells us something about the main character, Paul Sheldon (played by James Caan).

We’re shown that he’s checked into The Silver Creek Lodge in Colorado, and he’s sitting at a table, typing on a manual typewriter. A typed manuscript is piled on the table next to him.

Paul stops typing and slowly removes the final page from the typewriter.

He lays it on the table and writes in hand, “THE END.”

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What Does It Mean To “Kill Your Darlings,” (And When Should You Fight to Keep Them)?

a red pen is on a typed piece of paper with corrections in red ink

Picture the scene. You’ve taken the admiral step of writing a book. Now here you are, staring at ‘that’ passage, wondering for the umpteenth time, “Should it stay, or should it go?”

The prose sings. The research is impeccable. Yet someone — a trusted friend, colleague, beta reader, editor — has ‘suggested’ you delete it because apparently, they think “it has nothing to do with the main argument.”

Sound familiar?

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