Around the Word

Meet Doc Block: As a coda to our post yesterday about Hollywood's fascination with writer's block, we would encourage you to check out a recent New Yorker article about a Tinseltown therapist who has made a career out of helping blocked writers rise from their rut. Or if you want to skip the long version, along with Barry Michels' $400/hour fee, you can get a free sneak peek at the doctor's unconventional advice today over Fishbowl LA.

Unusual suspects, Twitter edition: If you joined Twitter hoping to get writing tips from your favorite name-brand authors, you should think again. PR Daily surveyed tweets from a wide range of writers and found that the most valuable material is often posted by working editors and journalists. Among the five helpful hints the article cited from the Twitter rabble, we of course seized on this one from the Daily Beast's Dana Goldstein: "in my experience, the cause of most writer's block is a lack of reporting or research on which to base the writing http://bit.ly/dUc3CN."

Why the EU is not friendly to E-books: While the digital book business is taking off in the U.S., it's still in its infancy in the literary bastions of Europe. According to a recent New York Times article, the limited availability of e-reading devices and strict EU regulations are likely to make it 2-5 years before the European e-book market is able to catch up.

Tips for Gender Offenders: Writers tend to more sensitive than the average bear to politico-lingual minefields, but even the most experienced pros can slip up in using gender neutral pronouns. Deborah Gaines, who blogs as The Corporate Writer, offers a few easy fixes to business writers on how to minimize gender bias in their prose and avoid offending your audience.