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Zoom is bringing its Live Transcription feature to free users. Paid users have had access to the service for a while, but free users will soon also have the option to add automated, AI-powered closed-captioning to their meetings.Read more...

Little kids have an innate love of stickers, and rightfully so—they are bright and colorful, add whimsy to any plain, boring piece of paper, and the sheer act of peeling and sticking is oddly satisfying. But sometimes, the damn things won’t cooperate. Sometimes, no matter how hard those little fingers bend and pull…Read more...

Some online discourses resurface as if on schedule, like an itch that can never be scratched to satisfaction. I’d like to prescribe a salve for one of Twitter’s most obnoxious perennial obsessions: fulminating about the books we were assigned in high school. I’ve been going online to complain about stuff since the…Read more...

I...have...a confession...to make: I think that when you wedge ellipses into texts, you unintentionally rob your message of any linear train of thought.Read more...

When our children are young, we are privy to many of their innermost thoughts. In fact, it’s not unusual for a preschool-aged child to verbalize nearly every thought in real time, a sort of running dialogue of what is happening inside their brain—which can be both endearing and exhausting. At a certain point, though,…Read more...

As we dive into this new year—while still wading through a devastating pandemic—you may be looking for fresh habits that help you and your kids increase your mindfulness and help process the times we are living through. If so, now is the time to start a regular journaling practice with your kids.Read more...

This week we’re learning how to crank out that book you’ve been meaning to write in a mere 30 days, with author Grant Faulkner. Grant is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) and author of the book, Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo. Listen to…Read more...

Changing careers can be both scary and exciting, and Preeti Chhibber experienced both emotions when she quit her job in publishing to become a full-time writer. Since taking the leap in 2019, Preeti has gone on to write a Spider-Man book, an Avengers book, and contribute to a Star Wars anthology. Her most recent work…Read more...

A global pandemic likely qualifies as one of the worst possible settings for honing creativity. Contrary to what the boldest of us may have claimed in the early weeks of COVID-19, more time doesn’t equal more inspiration. We’re tired, overwhelmed, and unmotivated, all peppered with random shocks of anxiety. At least I…Read more...

Even under normal circumstances, early planning for major events is critical to their success. This year, of course, we are in far from ordinary circumstances, which makes it that much more important for writers to begin planning for National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo, for short—NaNo, for even shorter) right…Read more...

If you’ve been thinking about writing a novel, drafting a play, starting a journal or simply keeping a record of what you experienced during this strange pandemic year, you might want to start by making a commitment to get a few words down on paper every day. Read more...

When I was in fifth grade, my family moved to a Cincinnati suburb from Illinois. I knew the only way I was going to keep in touch with any of my friends was to write them letters. I soon discovered there was nothing quite as exciting as getting mail, scrawled penmanship and all, addressed to me. Read more...

Interviewing for a potential job is stress-inducing enough itself, without even considering the whole follow-up process. What if you think it went well but you don’t hear back from anyone? Sometimes this is a sign of bad news, and sometimes it isn’t. You want to follow up and find out what’s going on, but you don’t…Read more...

It must be the future, because I’m taking writing advice from a computer. I’ve always been a fan of Janelle Shane’s AI experiments, because they’re adorably goofy, like the computer is just starting to learn the ways of human language, or concepts like recipes or colors. But her latest creation writes beginning…Read more...

Demi Adejuyigbe has written for The Good Place and James Corden, co-hosted the podcasts Punch Up the Jam and Gilmore Guys, and turned the 21st of September into an internet holiday. He’s written fake credits songs for Space Jam, Black Panther, Get Out, Infinity War, Ready Player One, Aladdin, a Lando movie, and Success…Read more...

As the winter slowly descends upon us, it’s time for the annual tradition of hand-wringing, self-loathing, and maybe—just maybe—writing a novel in 30 days. National Novel Writing Month has become a beacon of hope each November for the many high achievers who desire to not only start, but also finish a draft of a novel…Read more...

Novelist Cormac McCarthy has spent twenty years editing what feels like the opposite of a novel: scientific papers by faculty members and postdocs at the Santa Fe Institute. Some of the scientists he worked with have paraphrased and compiled McCarthy’s best writing advice. It applies to all kinds of writing, from…Read more...

Be careful when you ask for writing advice. Some people want to do it the right way—determine what you want to say and to whom, and help you do so. But some only want to bring you in line with their idea of “correct” writing. They’re pedants, who think there’s only one right way to express yourself, and like all…Read more...