I absolutely loved this article from the November 27, 2012 Atlantic by Jen Doll. How did I miss it all these years? A Perfectly Nice, Well-Intentioned Rant About Hyphens Let’s take a minute to get Grammar-Real: It has come to my attention of late that many of us are using hyphens wrong. This is not, … Read More →
Really enjoying Nadia Colburn’s 31+ Day Meditation and Writing Course. This is from Day 13 (repeated) – everything is interconnected. Words: wind, white, ancestor, pitcher, run, desire (amazing how different my response to the prompt is each time!) I played around with making it resemble a DNA helix, but not sure I was successful. DNA … Read More →
I was culling through old essays and found one I started but never finished about a friend’s mother who had inspired me as a young girl. A few months ago, when I had my hours slashed at work, it gave me more time to think about writing and more time to mull over things I wanted to say. … Read More →
We’re doing it! TQ Poet and I have continued to motivate each other to write. We met again last evening and brought several new projects and ideas to mull over. We’ve decided to pursue the nanowrimo this year. I’ve done it several years now, but always fade after a few days, because I really don’t … Read More →
Q. Hi, Chicago—I’m replying to your e-mail answer more than seven years later because I’m still trying to wrap my head around punctuating sentences like these: She was still so shocked, it took her a while to find her voice. He was so fixated on his game, he had no idea I’d entered the room. Do … Read More →
Here’s an article that highlights the most common grammar mistakes. Listen up, people! The number one mistake is one that I am constantly finding when proofreading materials… Affect vs. effect. The easiest way to remember the difference between the two is that “affect” means “to influence.” So if you’re going to influence something, you will … Read More →
I was trying trying to keep up with the events taking place in Watertown at breakfast Friday morning, when I read this sentence on Twitter: Early Friday, a virtual army of heavily armed law enforcement officers was still going through houses in Watertown one by one in a search for the second suspect. I know the … Read More →
One of my (many) pet grammar peeves is the overuse of exclamation points. I’m not sure if the interrobang will improve things or result in more problems. The application of the interrobang is pretty straightforward. According to Wikipedia: A sentence ending with an interrobang asks a question in an excited manner, expresses excitement or disbelief … Read More →
I love reading Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings. I also enjoy every morsel of advice offered by Stephen King. Today, the blog had a few excerpts about the use of adverbs from King’s excellent book of advice to writers: On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft. I blogged about this book awhile back. It’s one of … Read More →
Couldn’t live without these…