Sabbatical

Taking a leave of absence--indefinite period of time--to regroup. 
See you later!

Common Writing Errors - Dictionary Use

Today, rather than discuss a grammar error, I want to discuss a discipline error.  "What?" you say! "You want to address my personal discipline?"  Well, yes.  A writer needs discipline and the first discipline he needs is to keep his dictionary handy.  The second discipline is for him to USE it!  I know, we have spell check to use these days, but  I want to encourage you to also use a dictionary.  You can use the old fashioned kind in book form or there are some very good online sites that will add the dictionary to your homepage, like iGoogle.  You might even opt for the Merriam-Webster site which has free resources.



Vintage Dictionary Art Print by littlebluebirdstudios on Etsy 



Often, when I am writing, I stop and ask my husband, "How do you spell . . . . ?"  He tells me his thoughts as I reach for the dictionary.  We confer on the word, arrive at a spelling and I go on with my writing.  It seems, sometimes that I spend a lot of time looking up suitable words to use.  But, this is a good discipline.  It helps me with my spelling, enlarges my vocabulary, and enhances my writing.  I learn something new every time I open the book.   If we use only the spell check, we are not challenging ourselves to use new words, that we can't spell, or explore new possibilities in our writing.  Just sayin'. 

JOP Writing Party - Week nine

Jumping Off Places Writing Party!!

WELL, look at me, I haven't written anything all week!  What is that?  I advocate practicing our writing and I don't write anything!?  It's been a crazy week.  And I have had writer's block.  I am writing a story about Abby, (see the tabs above) and I am stuck!  Been mulling over some angles but have not decided which way to go with it.  I guess you could say that it is all part of writing. 

So, don't feel bad and go away  if you don't participate for a week or so.  Keep coming back, read what everyone has written and enjoy!  Maybe it will stimulate your creative juices! 

Now for our Friday linky party! Practicing our writing skills, is what this is all about!  Write something cute, sad, inspiring, scary, or awesome! Just WRITE!

First lines for writing something this week were found in my April 15th post.

A review of how our party works can be found at the top of this page under the Jumping Off Places tab. If you have written something for this week, please drop down to the link part of this post and add your name and your URL. Then everyone who visits will be able to come read your creativeness!

First Lines for Next Week --Week TEN--

1)  She browsed the offerings in the street market, all the while pulling along her whimpering little boy.
2)  As I entered the office, I noticed it was filled with diplomas, degrees, and official looking certificates.
3)  Her smart gray suit belied her chosen profession.
4)  The squirrel in the tree sat extremely still with his eyes fixed on the stealthily moving cat below.
5)  Gasping for air, I literally thought my lungs would burst!

Spring Bee

The bee flitted from blossom to blossom in an erratic pattern. It felt like my life, the erratic pattern but without the flowers!  I chose to forget about my life today and enjoy the little bee while I sat in the sun on the patio. After all, it was the first really warm day in a long time.  I guess that's what the insect was taking advantage of too!  I watched him busily flit from the cherry tree blossoms to the forsythia to the tulip beds with determined ambition. My life should be so determined.  I really am blessed, like living among the flowers, but my attitude has been in the pits.  If I could just go about my business like this little bee, I would soon be basking in the honey!  Well, I guess the break on the patio is over, it's time to go back to the computer and back to work!  Bye little honey bee!

(The awesome art listed above is from Claire Burke on Etsy!  I love her style of art illustrations of children and animals.  Please visit her shop.http://claire.etsy.com/ )

JOP Writing Party - Week Eight

Just 'jump right in!'

(when it comes to our writing, that is!)

Jumping Off Places Writing Party!!

Well, I  got the formatting right this time!  I upgraded my blogger editor and that worked!!

Now for our Friday linky party! We hope you might choose to join us! Practicing our writing skills, is what this is all about!  Write something cute, sad, inspiring, scary, or awesome! Just WRITE! First lines for writing something this week were found in my April 8th post.

A review of how our party works can be found at the top of this page under the Jumping Off Places tab. If you have written something for this week, please drop down to the link part of this post and add your name and your URL. Then everyone who visits will be able to come read your creativeness!

First Lines for Next Week --Week NINE--

1) Discovering my unique gifting, opened my eyes to new possibilities.
2) The bee flitted from blossom to blossom in an erratic pattern.

3) Zzzzzzzzz was the only sound I heard in the frozen ice land.
4) The first line of my favorite novel is . . . .  

5) I turned to take the path to the left, but it was another dead end! 

Don't forget to come back next Friday and link in!

The Hair Cut

Out the door she went, sporting a new haircut, skipping and wagging her head, obviously proud of her new do!  I felt as if I had been on a battleground. The hairdresser had tried to to her best, but those gouges were hard to cover with a good cut! But now it was done!  Would it stay done?! She had taken a scissors to her own hair--this was the third time!  Why did this little girl insist on taking my scissors and clipping snippets of hair from her head?  As she walked in front of me to the car, I could still see the little short patches on the back of her head. Was this five year old destined to become a hairdresser herself or was it indicative of a passion for patchwork?  "Who knows," I said softly to myself, "I just hope this haircut lasts a week!"

This story is real.  I visited by son and his family this week.  My daughter-in-law told me about my five year old granddaughter LaRaya, who had done just what I wrote about, cut her own hair three times.  I just embellished it a bit! 

Common Writing Errors - Sentence Variation

Today's tip is for all of us who write descriptions of our products on Etsy or Artfire. Most of us already know that writing a good engaging description is a key to good online salesmanship. It is very easy to be factual and straightforward in describing our items, such as starting our sentences with the same word or word structure, repeatedly. Try not to use the same successive sentence structure over and over, i.e. there is, there are, it is, this, the, we, I. Especially for myself, I tend to overuse these phrases, since I am trying to present my item with as many facts as possible. I want my item to be truthfully presented. But, occasionally changing the usual word order of subject + verb + complement will avoid monotony and will attract attention.

Sample:

Those who can sleep through a strong rain storm are fortunate.

Better:
Fortunate are those who can sleep through a strong rain storm.

Sample:

It is a lovely shade of lavender.
Better:
Lavender is the loveliest shade in this print.

Print fabric available from PruittSupply on Etsy.

Tip:

Sentences should usually be built with the most important idea at the beginning or end; or in places where the reader's attention is most at its peak. Where do you want to grab your potential customer's attention?

Now to go look at my own descriptions and do some re-writes!

Jumping Off Places - Week Seven

Just 'jump right in!' (when it comes to our writing, that is!) I am so bummed! I'm having trouble with blogger. It is not formatting anything correctly! Sorry, everything is all smunched together in one paragraph! I have tried everything! It is not spacing correctly! It shows correctly when I am writing it, but when I publish the post, it is all together with no spacing! Arghhhh!!! If anyone has any suggestions, please leave me a comment! Now for our Friday linky party! We're off on week 7! We have had several faithful bloggers enjoying this party. We hope you might choose to join us! Practicing our writing skills, is what this is all about!Write something cute, sad, inspiring, scary, or awesome! Just WRITE! First lines for writing something this week were found in my April 1st post. And don't forget our Saturday FUN! My "Common Writing Errors" post should be informative and FUN! See you tomorrow. A review of how our party works can be found at the top of this page under the Jumping Off Places tab. If you have written something for this week, please drop down to the link part of this post and add your name and your URL. Then everyone who visits will be able to come read your creativeness! First Lines for Next Week --Week EIGHT-- 1) A hand full of the most awesome set of cards is what she was dealt. 2) Out the door she went, sporting a new haircut. 3) The inward journey is a lifelong pilgrimage. 4) But with rumors flying among my co-workers, I felt like running away. 5) "That's fine," Faith said, waving good-bye. Don't forget to come back next Friday and link in!

Conclusion--?

A door slammed and someone ran down the stairs in an obvious hurry! As Roberta went to the window, she thought to herself, "What is going on? This is such a quiet complex!" As she pulled back the curtain, she was shocked to see a flashing light and a fire engine in front of the garage! The apartment manager was standing in the crowd talking to someone. "Oh, no, not one of my neighbors!" As she continued to watch, she spotted Mr. Perget's grandson talking to a fireman. Mr. Perget had been ill, but he had been feeling better. Her downstairs neighbor, Mrs. Graham, who looked in on him occasionally, had told her just this morning, that he was recovering nicely. "What could have happened?" Roberta rushed down the stairs and thru the carport to see if she could help in any way. As she got closer, she could see that everyone was laughing and visiting and she just didn't understand. "What's going on here?" she asked. "Oh, sorry to startle you, Roberta, nothing's wrong, we just got a cat out of the tree! Everybody's just enjoying seeing the engine!"

Firetruck Personalized T-Shirt by Sweet3leafprints on Etsy

Easter Fact

FACT -- FACT -- FACT -- FACT During the days preceding Easter, Napoleon Bonaparte was about to overtake the Austrian village of Feldkirch. The villagers gathered to pray for deliverance on the Eve of Easter. On Easter morning the church bells rang to signal the day of worship. Napoleon heard the bells but didn't realize it was Easter. He thought those bells meant the Austrian armies had come to reinforce the village, so he sounded retreat.

Get ready for Easter!

Easter Banner by inspirationalbanners on Etsy

What next, Sasha?

"You want me to adopt her?! Mom, you've lost it! You know that I'm already way too busy ALL THE TIME! My family, the shop, home schooling, the farm, watching after you!" Suzanne practically shouted at her mom, which was surprising. "But, Suz, you . . . . " Abby tried to say. "No, mom, I don't want to hear it!" she shouted, as she rose from her chair, put her cup in the sink and went for the back door! "Well, Sasha, that went well!" The cat meowed back, as if understanding just what was said. Wiping off the table and adding her cup to the sink, Abby headed for the wing chair in the living room with Sasha right behind her. "I didn't see that coming!" She picked up her embroidery, did a couple of stitches, and sat it down again. Rising from the chair, she paced across the Persian rug a couple of times then headed for the phone. She dialed the number and waited for an answer. "Ms. Cathy Griffith, please." After leaving a message for Ms Griffith, since she was not available, Abby went back to pacing. She sure hoped Suz wouldn't stay angry with her. She just wanted the best for Patricia and for her own family! Suzanne would never have a little girl of her own. There were no girls in the Hamilton family, hadn't been in generations. Always boys. Suzanne was resigned to it. "She loves her boys and I do too, Sasha. But I just wish she could have a girl. Sasha, maybe I have overstepped my bounds."

Common Writing Errors #2

Apostrophe pin from tiarabuttons on Etsy

It's Saturday! It's April! Yay! Isn't Spring wonderful? Today's post is about possession! No, not like possessing wealth or property, or even being in control of the ball out on the field! It's (it is*)about using apostrophes. 1)Apostrophes can be used to denote the absence of a letter/s in a contraction i.e. can't, won't, I'll. 2) They are also used to indicate plurals of figures, letters or words designated as a plural word like: a Wheel of Fortune statement: "There are three t's in that sentence." But where most of us make the errors in our writing, is when they are used in the possessive case when writing about who or what belongs to whom. "I left the girl's room." Meaning: I left the room of one girl. The room belonging to one girl. "I left the girls room." Incorrect! "The page's focal point was . . . . " Meaning: the focal point belonging to the page seven's layout! "The pages' focal point was . . . " Incorrect! This way it literally means: the focal point of all the pages (plural) was . . . ? did you really mean that all the pages of the magazine had one focal point? Anyway, you get the picture! Tip of the day: There is a notable exception to the rule! Never use an apostrophe with the possessive its. "It's" is actually a contraction meaning 'it is'. *See an example in the first part of this post.

JOP - Jumping Off Places - Week #6

Just 'jump right in!' (when it comes to our writing, that is!) OK! A linky party! We're off on week 6! Join us! Write something cute, sad, inspiring, scary, or awesome! Just WRITE! that's what this is all about! Practicing our skills! First lines for writing something this week were found in my March 25th post. And don't forget our Saturday FUN! My "Common writing errors" post should be informative and FUN! See you tomorrow. A review of how our party works can be found at the top of this page under the Jumping Off Places tab. If you have written something for this week, please drop down to the link part of this post and add your name and your URL. Then everyone who visits will be able to come read your creativeness! First Lines for Next Week --Week SEVEN-- 1) Panic filled my being as he moved swiftly toward me. 2) As I watched the ants carrying one their tasks, I pondered the events of my day. 3) At the concert, we had to scream in each other's ears just to talk. 4) A door slammed and someone ran down the stairs in an obvious hurry! 5) I could hear music, was it from the apartment next door? Don't forget to come back next Friday and link in!