I attended a writers’ workshop session at which a minor, but much-published author warned participants against creating POV (point of view) characters of the opposite sex. According to her writing philosophy, a woman writer should create only female POV characters and men, male POV characters. That’s not to say that the POV characters can’t interact … Read more
Reader Elaine Peters wonders if the word “Good” in “Good Friday” has anything to do with the word “God,” pointing out that the English “good-bye” is a shortened version of the once common expression “God be with ye.” The word “goodbye” is the result of running words together until they’ve dwindled into a compressed version … Read more
Running a home-based writing business is a great way to make a living. It allows one to be creative, flexible, and above all, it allows for a certain amount of freedom. There remains however, some things that anybody who runs any size of business can get out of; client management. Without clients you have no … Read more
If you’re reading this blog, then you’ll be happy to know that we have our own day. The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG), has designated March 4th National Grammar Day. The Society says it’s for ‘pen-toters appalled by wanton displays of Bad English’ and for ‘people who crave good, clean English’. We … Read more
I just did a double-take when reading an article about creating passport photos using Photoshop Elements and another application. Here’s what threw me: If you have any of these two applications, then you can follow this simple do-it-yourself project… any of these two applications Horrors! In speaking of two applications, the word either is called … Read more
Below you will find the most popular articles of the past month. Check them out if you missed any. Laugh About Writing: Writing doesn’t always have to be a serious business. Though it’s wise to make sure that you write correctly, there’s a lot of fun to be had when playing with words. Poll: Should … Read more
Anachronism (É™-năk’rÉ™-nÄz’É™m) is the placing of a person or thing out of its natural chronological or historical time. Putting a written book in a prehistoric movie, therefore, would be considered an anachronism. Notice that in poetry and other arts anachronisms can appear both deliberately and accidentally. The filibuster, which seems more and more an anachronism … Read more