Woohoo! Exclamation Points!!! One might think that a mark as simple as an exclamation point wouldn’t need a two-part post. That’s probably true. But this post is not just about the exclamation point as punctuation; it’s also about tone in communication, of which the exclamation point can play a big Read more…
Writing Is Never Finished You’ve probably heard the adage about how writing is never finished, it’s just due. I used to tell that to my students in an effort to relieve some of their anxiety about striving for “perfection” in their writing. I tell it to myself, too. I remind Read more…
A couple of days ago, I spent the afternoon working on a personal essay. I had written a draft of it back in January and have spent the last few months mulling over the feedback I received on it, waiting until I had some time to work on it and Read more…
Clearing Your Throat Ahem. *Cough.* Ahem (again). (Can you hear me?) Sometimes before speaking, I need to clear my throat, just so my voice comes out clearly. A kind of warm-up activity. Okay, it may not be the best metaphor, but when you’re finding (or creating) your writing voice, a Read more…
“Kill Your Darlings” The idea of writing yourself into a corner probably sounds like a bad idea. A kind of confinement. Nowhere to go. But restrictions in writing can be helpful, especially if you need help learning how to write more concisely. Writing concisely is as much about word choice Read more…
Writing, Dogs, Family, and Collaboration I decided I wanted to be a writer when I was six years old. Or possibly even earlier than that–as soon as I could write words and form sentences. I still have a lot of the writing I did as a five- and six-year-old–silly ramblings, Read more…
Commas: Small but Potent I’ve previously written about the semicolon and its misuse. The comma is yet another punctuation mark that begs for understanding. From my experiences as a workshop facilitator, a teacher, and as a proofreader and editor, I’ve concluded that the comma gets overused and underused at about Read more…
Writing Woes In the academic writing classes I used to teach, most of which were for nonnative English speakers, many of my students came to the first class of the semester with this adamant stance: they did not like writing. Why? Their worries were plenty. I don’t have the right Read more…
Words Matter Week is wrapping up. I didn’t get a chance to post a blog for each day of it, but I definitely was thinking about words as I wrote, edited, and proofread all week. Through the sheer nature of my work, I’m surrounded by words on the page each Read more…
Words Matter Week Today (March 4th) is National Grammar Day, and it’s also the start of Words Matter Week. According to the National Day Calendar, this is the 11th year that the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) “has sponsored Words Matter Week.” And according to NAIWE’s Executive Read more…