There’s an AT&T Wireless commercial, showing a father knocking on steamy car windows at a make-out spot, looking for his daughter because he hadn’t gotten her text message about spending a night at a friend’s house. The voice-over has him saying something to the effect that, “Come Monday, you’ll be…
Handwriting: Improving Legibility
We have talked about the epidemic of bad handwriting. So now that you know that you’re not alone (if you’re one of the many people suffering from poor penmanship), what can you do if you want to improve yours? Number one answer? Practice. Good penmanship is based on muscle memory,…
Handwriting: Legibility Issues
If you are anything like me, your handwriting is, um, less than ideal. The word “scrawl” may be bandied about, and jokes about illegibility abound. (Though, in this regard, I truly am my father’s daughter.) It’s not just me, though. It’s practically an epidemic. I’ve often said that if a…
MM: Slang
What do you think about using slang in your writing? The official Rule is that you should avoid colloquialisms when you write. I can give you two good reasons for this. 1. They date your writing, just like any other popular reference. You can refer to some popular television show…
Handwriting: The Personal Touch
When is the last time you got a hand-written letter in the mail? A personal note? A greeting card? Exactly. It’s a dying art. I have a drawer full of letters I’ve received from friends over the years, but I cannot remember the last time I actually had a letter to add. Maybe…
Match it for Pratchett
Here’s a slightly off-topic announcement for you. I’m assuming that you all love to read, and that many of you love sci-fi and fantasy books as well. Well, Terry Pratchett (author of the Discworld books) recently came forward with the announcement that he has Alzheimer’s. He’s donated approximately a million…
Handwriting: The Flow of Writing
When you sit down to write, do you reach for a pen? Or a keyboard? It’s not just an idle question. There’s a completely different flow to the act of writing when you’re writing long-hand on a pad of paper as opposed to tapping away at a keyboard. First, there’s the…
Guesting
If you haven’t seen it, I’ve got a guest-post over at Laura’s Writing Thoughts today. Go over and read it and then, after, go read the rest of her blog, if you haven’t already. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go make small talk and see if there’s anything…
MM: Emoting
Sure, emoticons are handy little things to toss into an e-mail to a friend. But when they come en masse, they become obnoxious. One bee buzzing around your picnic is atmosphere, but a swarm can get, er, difficult. Similarly, an e-mail with one little smiley face is cute. One that has one after every other sentence? Gag (as they said in my high school days).
Clutter
Jan left a comment on my post about getting started writing where she said, “I find that I am much more productive if I have projects and things ready to go (that includes a clean desk, nothing scatters my thinking more than a cluttered desk).” I agreed whole-heartedly and replied,…