Monthly Archive: January, 2017

January 31, 2017

The Cleverest of All: A Fyodor Dostoyevsky Quote

“The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.” Once a month? I thought calling yourself a fool (or idiot) only a few times a week was doing pretty well as an adult! And that is part of being an adult, isn’t it? Admitting that you were wrong and/or that...

Categories Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

January 27, 2017

Office Update: What I Should Do vs. What I Want to Do

So… apparently I really stink at estimating how long something will take me to do. Either that, or I’m horrible at recognizing my own limitations as far as energy and time (maybe both&#… Source: Office Update: What I Should Do vs. What I Want to Do

Categories General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 0

January 26, 2017

Cultural Traditions + Technology = Interesting Trends: A Writing Prompt for Worldbuilding

I live in an area where there’s a good amount of cultural diversity, so when I go out, I see people from many different ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, religions, etc. Maybe because I grew up outside a small town where such diversity wasn’t (isn’t) common, or maybe because I’m a writer (and tend to notice different details than many people), but I’ve started noticing interesting side...

Categories Worldbuilding Exercises/Writing Prompts Comments: 0

January 24, 2017

Vocabulary Changes Everything: Communication Is a Zombie

After you get out of high school, vocabulary isn’t really something you think about (if you ever did). Sure, you talk, read, and listen, but you don’t think about the size of your vocabulary while you do it. You know the words you know – except when you forget them (usually in the middle of a sentence in front of...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

January 19, 2017

Poetry Writing Prompt for Free Verse

This poetry writing prompt for free verse is really a tactic for overcoming free verse writing block. It’s particularly handy for people who are writing poetry on a schedule for the first time (the ones used to writing poetry only if the muse takes them), for those new to poetry and trying to dip their toes into free verse, and...

Categories Poetry/Poetry/Writing Prompts Comments: 3

January 17, 2017

A Letter Named Ethel

Once upon a time, there was a letter named Ethel. Being a nice, helpful little letter, Ethel helped people write words like coil. Words with an “oi” sound. So like any vowel worth its salt, Ethel lived her days helping people understand words – because that was her purpose. That’s what made her happy. And life was good. People came to...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Humor & Wordplay Comment: 1

January 14, 2017

A Resolution Update from twytte

It makes more sense to post updates on my goals on twytte since the time I spend on the resolutions affects those posts more. So if you want to know how it’s going, that’s the best place to look. Remember my 3 goals for the year, “3 New Year’s Resolutions That Aren’t Going to Be Easy“? Well, it turns out...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 0

January 12, 2017

Literacy Will Be Dead: A Margaret Atwood Quote

If there are no young or old readers and writers, it’s hard to argue the statement that “literacy will be dead.” Who will teach the young readers and writers if there are no old readers and writers? But what about democracy? Not to argue with Margaret Atwood, but being able to read and write hasn’t helped democracy a lot lately...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

January 10, 2017

The Most Common Colon Error Ever: Make It Stop!

The colon is one of those punctuation tools that people tell you not to use if you’re not sure how to use it correctly. One problem: people think they know how to use it when they don’t. Which leads to the most common colon error ever – and, no, I’m not being as dramatic as you think. I see this...

Categories Grammar & Editing Comments: 0

January 5, 2017

Articles Are Important. Don’t Believe Me? Here Are 3 Examples to Prove It.

Articles: a, an, and the. Three little words that are often overlooked or outright dismissed, especially by math-minded people or people with English as their second language. No, really – I do a lot of editing for writers in both categories, and from experience, I can tell you that both definitely tend to skip articles. I’ll tell you the same thing I...

Categories Grammar & Editing/Humor & Wordplay Comment: 1