A simple way to write well-connected texts that people will enjoy reading — Starting each new sentence with linking words and phrases such as: However, In addition, As a result, Therefore, Indeed, In fact, …has a bad impact on the readability of your text. When I started writing in English — my second language — I would begin each new sentence with such…

What minimalism really is and how you can apply it to your life — I’m 36, and I’m still wearing clothes I bought when I was in my early 20s. I drive a Toyota Yaris made in 2006, and my smartphone is an old Samsung Galaxy A10. I’ve had it since 2019. Its screen is cracked, and I’ve never bothered to fix it. “I’m…

18 true personal stories for independent language-learning thinkers — There are people online who sell ‘the secret,’ the ‘fastest way’, or the ‘best method’ to learn languages. This bothers me. How can they sell something that doesn’t exist? How can they sell ‘the best method’ without knowing anything about the people they’re selling it to? I decided to rebel…

A free editing tool​ — Read your text aloud before sending it into the world. I always do it. Reading my stories aloud helps me spot problems in my writing. First off, it helps me notice whether my sentences are of different lengths. If I sound too fragmented, for example, that means I’ve used too…

Writing isn’t a linear process but a recursive one — and it hides a trap too — This is what the writing process looks like: Planning > Drafting > Editing > Final version > Beer Planning is when you tidy that messy room of your brain so you get clear on what to write. Drafting is when you get wild to produce a bad-looking draft. Editing is…

There’s more to writing than great language use — When I was learning how to write in English, my primary concerns were the grammar and vocabulary of my sentences. Is this the right word order? Should I use ‘of’, ‘in’ or ‘at’? Does this word I wrote even exist in English? You may ask yourself these questions, too, if…

Something else is —

Drum kits, electronic keyboards and AI — If you want to be a great rock drummer, you have to play an acoustic drum kit. But an acoustic drum kit is big and noisy. You may not have enough space for it in your house, or — like it happened to me in my early 20s — you…

Would you keep playing or would you quit? — Gomorrah is one of Italy’s most popular TV series of all time and one of Sky’s most-watched cable shows. My partner and I have watched the first two seasons and can confirm it’s great. Now it’s time to watch Season 3 Episode 1. We press play. We watch the episode…