My father is a puzzle to me. He watches sports for entertainment, for example, and when I protest that I prefer watching something with a story, he tells me “It’s all about stories.” He believes (I’m guessing) the strategies and the occasional player biography means that watching the events of…
5 Tips for Better Time Management
Imagine this: You’re busy all the time. You’ve got more assignments than you know what to do with. You’re running continually just to get things done and still find time to see your kids for five minutes once a week. How did your schedule get away from you? First, congratulations…
7 Reasons Why A Good Schedule Can Keep you On Track
I am so conflicted about my schedule, it’s not even funny. We’re in the process of moving from our home of 34 years, and time-management has been forefront in my mind for weeks now, as I juggle my full-time job, my freelancing, my novel-writing, blog-writing (not that you would know…
Climate Change
It’s Blog Action Day, the annual blogging event that “unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance.” Last year’s theme was Poverty. This year’s theme is Climate Change.…
Autumn is a Breath of Fresh Air
Just a quick note to direct you over to my guest post at Joyful Jubilant Learning: Because, Autumn is a Breath of Fresh Air.
Gold Star Cop Out
I talked the other day about DIPs (Delusionally Important People). You know the ones, the ones who think they can get away with whatever they like because they’re so special. Well, I am not the only one to find these folks annoying. Check out this column from Ruben Navarrette Jr…
Writing Makes Everything Possible
So, Joanna wants to know how writing makes things possible? Well, duh, Joanna. What DOESN”T it make possible? (grin) Writing makes everything possible. For example: Writing down instructions on how to build things. Writing down instructions how to do things. Writing down lessons for children so they can learn. Writing…
You Can Lead a Dog to a Story…
You may think that, as the writer, when you tell a story or write an article, you are leading your readers exactly where you want them to go. But is that really true? Have you ever watched a dog out for a walk? The person walks along in a straight…
Really, It’s a Puzzle
It’s puzzling. One of my responsibilities at my day job is writing and designing the company newsletter. Since newsletters, even the best of them, can be boring, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to put something in each issue that clients would want to look at. A reason to open…
Wanted: Literary Agent of My Dreams
Wanted: A Literary Agent Who Will Love My Book as Much as I Do. I’ve tried those online dating services, like Writers Market.com, but still haven’t found The One yet. You know, the Literary Agent that will read my entire manuscript and be so enchanted that she or he will…
Shoot for the Moon
It’s one thing to talk about goals and plans, but there’s a difference between discussing something fairly straight-forward that you plan to do, and talking about The Dream. You can talk about how you’re going to write a 400-word article, or how you hope, by the end of the year,…
An Open Letter to Amazon About the Kindle
Dear Amazon: The first thing you need to know is that I want a Kindle. I do. I’m in the middle of trying to pare down my 3000+ volume library down to manageable size, and have to admit that an eReader that can hold half of them in its memory…
Guest Post Alert
While you’re waiting for a new post HERE, let me direct you to the one I wrote for Joyful Jubilant Learning. The month’s theme is about Communication, and since today would have been my grandfather’s birthday, I wrote about communicating between generations. Please come over and read it!
Heroes
I’m not one of those Luddite purists that screams that Television is Evil and rots your brain. When it’s good, it can be very good, indeed. (The West Wing, anyone?) And even half-way decent television can be entertaining, with a good story, and be a fun distraction for an hour.…
People Are Analog
Today, in the U.S., all televisions are officially switching from analog to digital transmission, forever turning the page on the tradition of television signals broadcast, for free, through the air.* In many ways, this is a seamless change–most people will never even notice–but the very IDEA is one that I…
Write What You Want to Read
Truly, it’s not something I talk about often, but I love writing fiction. Ironic, I know, because I don’t do it very often. I write non-fiction a lot. All the time. Blog posts. Emails at work. Notes to friends. Marketing pieces. Comments on blogs. Pretty much everything is non-fiction. Facts…
More Guesting
I’ve got a guest post up at Joanna’s Confident Writing today. Go on over and read it! You know, so Joanna won’t think we’ve let the place fall down around her ears while she’s away…
Social Media 101
Hey, look at that … I have a guest post over at SocMedia101.com. This site, if you don’t know, comes from the brilliant minds of Julie Roads and Ron Miller and is devoted to helping people (especially new people) navigate the waters of the social media river. Confused about Twitter?…
Four Reasons to Turn Off Your Computer
Joanna’s theme this month is breathing space, and in this crazy world, what could be more important? I’m sure I’m not the only one who is glued to her computer screen for hours (and hours) every day. Nor am I complaining about that. If I didn’t love writing, twittering, blogging,…
Why I Write
I’ve written in general terms about why writers write (to put food on the table, to be read, just because they love to, and so on), but have I told you why I, personally, like to write? Words First and foremost, I love words. Putting them together, mixing them up,…
Footnotes and Endnotes
This isn’t meant to be a formal discussion on the differences between these two forms of annotation, but just a topic something I’ve been thinking about. I just finished reading a biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was a good, interesting book about a complex man, but I had one…
Irony
I don’t want you to think that I don’t appreciate the irony. I’ve talked often about the importance of proof-reading. I stand by it, too. Sure, everybody makes mistakes. Some are more obvious than others, some stem from poor typing, or from rushing and being careless. Some come from ignorance…
Numbers and Words
Here’s an interesting juxtapostion. Yesterday was a big deal in math circles, being called “Square Root Day” because it was March 3rd, 2009. (03×03=09) Today is not only National Grammar Day, but it’s the only day that qualifies as a full, declarative sentence: March Forth! (fourth) Right there, in a…
What IS an E-Book?
How do you define an ebook? I’ve been reading a lot about ebooks lately, and it’s made me realize that there are really two, entirely separate meanings to the word. Well, yes, either way, the “e” stands for electronic, as opposed to the “dead tree” edition of books that all…
Premio Dardos
Well, thanks Lillie! Lillie Ammann gave me a Premio Dardos Award. To quote, “Premio Dardos means ‘prize darts’ in Italian. It is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.” The rules are to (1) accept the award by…
Spinning Words 3–The Spinning
Fiber Preparation So … you’ve got your fleece, and you’ve carefully cleaned it (so as not to turn it into felt) … now what? You need to get it ready to spin, which comes with its own set of fun words.. Cards: You know those dog brushes that are mostly…
Spinning Words 2–The Fiber
Last time, we explored words connected with the equipment used for spinning yarn. Today we’re going to look at some of the words involved with the fiber. And, trust me, they’re unique! The Plant Fibers The plant fibers like linen have a long, convoluted process just to get the fiber…
Spinning Words
Brad and Joanna have been showing off their specialized, obscure vocabulary lately, so I thought I would share some of the more obscure, specialized words that I know. Brad has focused on Scottish dialect, and, I wanted to share words that only a select group of people know. Spinners. Not…
Loot and Plunder
Do you burn your bridges? James over at Men with Pens asked an interesting question today. He described a situation where he was exchanging emails with a potential client, discussing possible permutations of what they needed, how much work was involved, the amount of time it would take. All the…
Pulse Warmers
Sometimes, it’s the little things that make the most difference. I was thinking about this the other day when I was sitting in my office, shivering in the draft coming from the door. I was wearing warm pants, wool socks, and a handknit sweater (made by yours truly) … but…