The difference between Denmark and the rest of Europe may be attributed to their time spent interacting with their communities because Danes leave work early whereas most Europeans stay at work until 5:30 p.m., leaving no time for after-work gatherings or family dinners due to long hours at the office.

It isn’t surprising that hygge (the Danish way of creating intimacy) involves spending time with loved ones since touching others makes us feel warm and secure by releasing oxytocin into our bloodstreams, which causes bonding feelings between parents and children.

We dissect failure a lot more than we dissect success.

• Avoid at all costs the cliches of the thousands of writers who have gone before you.


• When you’re choosing words and stringing them together, be aware of how they sound.


• Use words you enjoy and that are vivid.


• Know the subtle differences between synonyms and which one best expresses what you want to say.


• Use the words that have precise meanings rather than those that are vague.

• The Soviet administration miscalculated the scale and complexity of recreating the Amber Room at Tsarskoe Selo in 1979. During St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary, the rebuilt Amber Room debuted in 2003 despite budgetary and craftsman shortages.
• The replica uses 350 colors of amber from the original panels and is ornately crafted by craftspeople.

Writers must constantly ask: "What am I trying to say?" Most of the time, they don’t know. Then they must look at what they have written and ask: "Have I said it?"

If something isn’t important enough for your writing, then remove it. In fact, most first drafts can be cut in half and still get the point across without losing anything important.