The Writing Life
Today’s post is by Evelyn Lauer. Evelyn and I were classmates in graduate school. She also helmed the online journal Front Porch. She is a gifted poet, a talented editor, and a wife and mother.
Wreck This Journals are especially well-known. If you’re on Instagram, check the #journal feed and you’ll see what I mean: Hundreds of pictures of Wreck This Journals are posted by teens and preteens.
[Read more…] about Keeping a Journal in the Twenty-First Century
I might have used some link bait with that title. I don’t think Jim Dougherty, the author of this post, or I know the secret to writing the perfect headline. We simply bumble and hope that we write a better headline the next time.
Headlines are pretty important. More people will read your headline than will read your content. Some people will comment on your headline if your blog posts circulate in social media circles. But most importantly your headline is the reason that people will choose to read your writing or not.
For most people, this probably isn’t a huge revelation. But for me, it was.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about misplaced modifiers. I used “misplaced modifiers” and “dangling modifiers” as synonyms; however, they are not synonyms. My friend Estella Ramirez explains.
There’s an old Groucho Marx joke that goes:
“I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.”
If you can get the joke, you can understand misplaced modifiers. The modifier here is “in my pajamas,” and well, the sensible thing to do would be to put that modifier next to “I” as in “In my pajamas, I shot an elephant.” It’s clear that Groucho’s wearing the pajamas. It’s clear, but not funny at all.
[Read more…] about Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers: Who Cares?
Today’s post is courtesy of Michael Schechter.
I have the grammatical skills of the average chimpanzee. No, that’s not fair, I’m insulting chimps. It’s not something that comes naturally and when it comes to my writing, it’s not my highest priority. Regardless of this deficiency, I write. I write to become a slightly better chimp. I write because I have something I want to say. I write because I want to find my voice and by using it, I seek to make it stronger.
[Read more…] about Don’t Be Afraid To Write If You Don’t Write Right
Today’s post is courtesy of Nancy Davis.
There are many great writers out there that I am simply not a fan of for whatever reason. Sometimes it can be a style issue, or there could be something missing emotionally for me.