And forgetting that fact doesn’t help either.
Goodwill words: Checking in with a long-time friend
And forgetting that fact doesn’t help either.
Tag Archives: zerotohero
And forgetting that fact doesn’t help either.
Curation Corner: Make your writing fit and trim.
I ran across this post from vappingo.com (a valuable new find) that’s all about ridding your work of ‘flabby words and expressions’.
Exact Title: 164 PHRASES AND WORDS YOU SHOULD NEVER USE IN AN ESSAY—AND THE POWERFUL ALTERNATIVES YOU SHOULD
I like the ‘powerful alternatives’ part…
A few examples:
— Use ‘will differ’ instead of ‘will be different’.
— Use ’emphasize’ instead of ‘point out’.
–Use ‘Start by’ instead of ‘The first step is to…’
While I don’t write essays, a quick scan of the list awakened me to lazy expressions I’ve used in my posts and letters.
Note: After reviewing the post, I’m now paranoid about every word I’m writing. Probably a good idea to NOT check out this post…
before your first drafts.
There are 17 more pages of Vappingo posts here.
Curation Corner: Are you a writer who’s stuck? Try freewalking.
Hey, it works for Jessica Lourey!
I’ve enjoyed seven of her Mira James Mysteries (set in Battle Lake, Minnesota–population 927) books, so I looked up Jessica Lourey on Amazon and voilà!
Check out her May 2, 2021 Freewalking post.
Some excerpts:
“Every time I finish these emotionally honest books, I free a piece of Little Jessie…” (herself)
“The Pretender will be my twenty-first novel, so you’d think I’d have things figured out by now, and I do when it comes to the mechanics of it. My experience, though, has been that writing’s always hard, and my fears grow to fit the space I give them.”
“So when I say I have something that works despite, know that I’m not just blowing smoke. I’m coming at you from the trenches.
Here it is, my miracle cure for don’t-writis: freewalking.”
Here also is Jess’s TedX Rapid City talk: Use Fiction to Rewrite Your Life
Hope you enjoy and learn a little something!
Curation Corner: Writing freebies from Scribe Media
Welcome to BooskSchool, with links to:
** four self-directed courses covering the topics highlighted in the word cloud above
** a download link to Scribe Media co-founder Tucker Max’s book, The Scribe Method
** a link to Scribe Media’s YouTube Channel
** a link to their podcast
Other Scribe Media resources can be found here.
Enjoy!
Curation Corner: Let Hemingway do the work.
Click here or on the above word cloud for a 90-second run-through of The Hemingway App, an online pair of eyes [creepy, I know] that points out [without browbeating] a writing flaw or two.
Here is an opening sentence I used on another blog…and Hemingway’s feedback. [That hack…I’ve heard he claims to have written The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms.]
You just paste in your masterpiece and out comes the quick but helpful evaluation.
There is also a $20 desktop version.
Note: Thanks to websiteplanet.com for reminding me about The Hemingway App and a few other helpful tools.
Curation Corner: Solve painful writing problems in 5 steps
I never fail to learn new writing strategies when I visit Copyblogger. Just as valuable is the writers’ acknowledgement that writing is hard…followed by helpful approaches to mindset mixed in with a few hacks to jump start our efforts.
The graphic is just the outline of a post by Brian Clark that’s well worth saving. Check it out.
Hope it helps. It should…
Goodwill words…starting the year on a ‘good note’
As stated before, writing is an act of faith…faith that your words will impact a reader.
But I have to remind myself to have faith that the words can impact the writer as well.
Writing to Help Others
And the item inspiring this post…
Here’s hoping the holiday season [despite the weirdness and reduced connections with others] is yielding a few realizations of life’s other fortunes.
This December sunrise, for instance.
Or this towering reminder of the season.
The last day of the 12 DAYS OF LOVE LETTER WRITING project…
Not too late to slip one quick letter into the mailbox.
Word Inventions 