I like to use things for other things when the thing for which they were originally intended is a thing of the past. Yankee Candle jars are great for this because they are a good size, strong, and have a sealed lid. I use them for q-tips in the bathroom because the lid seals out…
There was this headline today on Yahoo!news that linked to a Redbook magazine story about parenting: “Should mom be selling girl scout cookies for her daughter?” Why “be selling”? What is wrong with “Should mom sell Girl Scout cookies for her daughter?” There’s a growing, and annoying, prevalence of “be” in language, and I’m…
to be “freshly pressed” (FP) is cool. it means that someone, somewhere, for some reason, thinks that what you wrote is relevant, witty, visually outstanding, poignant, provocative, or any combination, but not limited to, those nice words. it means your thoughts or product will be posted to be seen by the entire wordpress community, or at…
Some call it proofreading, some call it editing, and I don’t really care which. Step 4 is easy. Punctuation? Spelling? Grammar? All good? Done. MSWord and spell check are a great help, but things will slip by. This step – for me – is almost unnecessary because I’m making an effort to proofread during the revising…
Gas prices have risen for the 24th straight day because: a. Supply and demand b. Fears of war in Iran or generic oil-producing nation c. President Obama’s energy policy d. None of the above Answer – d. none of the above Yeah, I didn’t give you a chance to answer. Sorry. Since…
For me, revising is the worst part of writing. It puts me to sleep, bores me to tears, and leaves a literal pain in my butt and shoulder. However, without it, stories would suck. Revising mainly involves reading, re-reading, and asking questions. “Does that make sense? Will the reader see what I see?” “He said he…
(click on picture for movie trailer) The Motion Picture Association of America has caused controversy by giving the movie Bully an R rating. Protests and petitions have begun because the rating does not allow anyone under the age of 17 to see the movie without parental accompaniement. Many teens and “tweens” are upset about this,…
When I write a story, specifically fiction, I’m writing a movie. I assign actors I think could play my characters. A movie plays in my head. The chosen actors play the parts. I watch. I type what I see. That’s all I do. If a scene doesn’t work, I essentially yell “Cut!” and delete/backspace and…
The writing process – step 1: pre-writing. It starts with a thought, an inspiration, an event that makes me say, “What would happen if…?” In the case of this story, which has a working title of The Connection, it began with a tragedy. There was a plane crash last year involving a charter flight that…
The contents of this picture are unimportant. It’s what it represents that counts. Last week, four people were sitting around the kitchen table. Kid younger was telling a story about something when suddenly something just appeared in the air in front of her face. There’s no other way to say it. All four people saw…
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