Strong Opinions About Semicolons I’m a grammar nerd. A word nerd. A nerd. All of the above and more. I often think about punctuation. I analyze the way it’s used in the different books or articles I read. I think, hmm, would I use a comma there? Or I wonder: Read more…
Writing Prompts and Freewriting Writing prompts can be used alone or in conjunction with freewriting. They are useful not only for creative writing but also for other kinds of writing (e.g., academic writing, professional writing). As a teacher, I started each writing class with a freewriting exercise, providing my students Read more…
Looking for “Perfect” As a kid, I remember worrying about whether my socks matched my outfit perfectly and whether my shoes were just right for my outfit. As a teenager plagued with the usual zits, I wanted perfect skin. I can recall fretting for hours about all these things and Read more…
Work-Life Balance When I was teaching full-time, I’d often come home from work after a ten-hour day and just want to sit in front of the TV. But sitting there, my mind would be buzzing with story ideas and other things I wanted to write (and other things I wanted Read more…
Writing Is a Process Because Improvement Is a Process. Improvement is an ongoing process. As a runner who participates in various short races (and the very occasional half-marathon), I enjoy tracking my progress, as well as my setbacks. I will most likely never win a race, but I like to Read more…
Why Proofreading Matters In January of 2019, my mom was discharged from the hospital after treatment for a brain aneurysm. During her short stay in the hospital, she had had a scary and complicated recovery process, most likely due to a small stroke either during or soon after the aneurysm Read more…