Eight Secrets Which Writers Won’t Tell You
Image from Flickr by Lazurite This is not particularly relevant to the post, but I’m getting an awful lot of comments telling me, often a little snarkily, “it’s ‘THAT’ not ‘WHICH’”. The “don’t use which for restrictive clauses” rule comes (as far as I can tell) from Strunk and White. Plenty of authors, including Austen, have used “which” exactly as I use it in the title.
50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do
Self-reliance is a vital key to living a healthy, productive life. To be self-reliant one must master a basic set of skills, more or less making them a jack of all trades. Contrary to what you may have learned in school, a jack of all trades is far more equipped to deal with life than a specialized master of only one. While not totally comprehensive, here is a list of 50 things everyone should know how to do. Edit: Do you like this post image? Beautful, isnt’ it?
20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
I’ve edited a monthly magazine for more than six years, and it’s a job that’s come with more frustration than reward. If there’s one thing I am grateful for — and it sure isn’t the pay — it’s that my work has allowed endless time to hone my craft to Louis Skolnick levels of grammar geekery. As someone who slings red ink for a living, let me tell you: grammar is an ultra-micro component in the larger picture; it lies somewhere in the final steps of the editing trail; and as such it’s an overrated quasi-irrelevancy in the creative process, perpetuated into importance primarily by bitter nerds who accumulate tweed jackets and crippling inferiority complexes. But experience has also taught me that readers, for better or worse, will approach your work with a jaundiced eye and an itch to judge.
Book-A-Minute Classics
Got another book report to do? English teachers have the inconsiderate habit of assigning mammoth-sized works of literature to read and then actually expecting you to do it. This wouldn't be so bad except that invariably the requisite reading is as boring as fly fishing in an empty lake. Half of those books don't even have discernible plots. And let's face it -- the Cliff's Notes are pretty time-consuming too.
How To Put Your Hair Up In A Cute Bun
Comb your hair carefully to eliminate any tangles or knots.Take some hair from the top of your head. 3. Tie off this hair with a hair elastic.
Cliche Finder
Have you been searching for just the right cliché to use? Are you searching for a cliché using the word "cat" or "day" but haven't been able to come up with one? Just enter any words in the form below, and this search engine will return any clichés which use that phrase... Over 3,300 clichés indexed! What exactly is a cliche?See my definition Do you know of any clichés not listed here?
12 Steps to Better Sleep - Unplug
Cozying up to your beloved laptop in bed or nodding off to Jimmy Fallon could disrupt your zzz’s. Not only is the content on the screen stimulating, but electronics emit a blue hue that mimics daylight. “It stops your body from producing the sleep hormone melatonin,” says Pete Bils, vice chair of the Better Sleep council. As a rule, turn off all gadgets at least one hour before bedtime; true screen addicts can download the F.lux app to ...more
Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling
These rules were originally tweeted by Emma Coats, Pixar’s Story Artist. Number 9 on the list – When you’re stuck, make a list of what wouldn’t happen next – is a great one and can apply to writers in all genres. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___.
Tension
Hook Your Readers With Tension By Laura Backes, Write4Kids.com Tension. Without it, life would be—let's face it—boring. So would fiction.
5 Easy to Follow Hair Tutorials - StumbleUpon
No matter how comfortable or confident I become in my hair styling abilities, I always seem to be on the lookout for easy style ideas to add to my daily routine. While some of these are classic and don't need much instruction, it's always helpful for me to see how other's achieve their look. Here are 5 easy to follow hair tutorials that I'm excited to try: 1.
54 Tips For Writers, From Writers
The entire writing process is fraught with perils. Many writers would argue that the hardest part of writing is beginning. When asked what was the most frightening thing he had ever encountered, novelist Ernest Hemingway said, “A blank sheet of paper.” Other writers believe that ideas are easy, it’s in the execution of those ideas that the hard work really begins. You have to show up every day and slowly give shape to your ideas, trying to find just the right words, searching for the right turn of phrase, until it all morphs into something real.
