Be a Better Writer (and a Band Saw Tip)

Publisher’s note: Welcome! Admire our Earlywood? Here’s how you can accomplish the same. Published every Saturday, Earlywood is a free excerpt from one of the thousands of pieces I’ve written since 1996. Sometimes, it’s from a magazine article. Or a book. Or (in this case) a blog post from 2011. Each entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. We hope you enjoy it.

The pen my wife, Lucy, gave me after I finished writing my first book in 2007.

Note: I am asked frequently about how to become a better writer, especially by woodworking bloggers, substackers and Instagrammers. So while the following entry isn’t entirely about woodworking, it is intended for woodworkers. There is some bonus woodworking content at the end of the entry.

Writing is a trade skill; it involves no more magic or mystery than cutting a mortise or planing a board’s edge.

I went to college to become a journalist, but it was a trade school through and through. In fact, there really isn’t…