Tuesday, December 24, 2019

MasterClass | Billy Collins Teaches Reading and Writing Poetry

MasterClass | Billy Collins Teaches Reading and Writing Poetry: Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins teaches you the fundamentals of poetry and the power of a perfectly turned line in his first-ever MasterClass.

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Creative Writing: A Master Class - Free Course by Academy of Achievement on iTunes U

Creative Writing: A Master Class - Free Course by Academy of Achievement on iTunes U: Download or subscribe to the free course by Academy of Achievement, Creative Writing: A Master Class.

Why David Sedaris Hates America's Favorite Word, "Awesome" | Open Culture

Why David Sedaris Hates America's Favorite Word, "Awesome" | Open Culture: David Sedaris has made his name as a humorist, noting the absurdities of everything from life with his parents and siblings to the perpetual cycle of world travel and book-signing into which fame has launched him.

David Sedaris Teaches Storytelling & Humor His New Masterclass | Open Culture

David Sedaris Teaches Storytelling & Humor His New Masterclass | Open Culture: For more than 25 years, the holiday season has brought to the radio not just Christmas carols but a diaristic monologue by a writer with, in every sense, a distinctive voice.

What Does “IANAL” Mean, and How Do You Use It?

What Does “IANAL” Mean, and How Do You Use It?: While it’s not the most common abbreviation on the internet, IANAL is occasionally used on websites like Twitter, Quora, and Reddit. But what does IANAL mean, and why do people say it?

Friday, December 13, 2019

Does Punctuation Go Inside Quotation Marks?

Does punctuation go inside quotation marks? The answer is both yes and no! The rules for when you put punctuation inside closing quotation marks can seem complicated at first glance, but they are actually pretty straightforward once you get used to them.
Where some confusion might arise is that American and British styles differ slightly and on the internet you will probably see both. We will point out the differences and similarities within the article to help lessen the confusion.

Commas and Periods

In American usage, commas and periods at the end of quotes always go inside the quotation marks. In British usage, they can go either inside or outside (in the same way as questions marks and exclamation points in American style, see below).
American style guides such as Associated Press (AP), Modern Language Association (MLA) and The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago) all follow the American rule when it comes to commas and periods. And you should note that commas and periods go before closing quotation marks, regardless of them being single or double quotes. For example:
  • He said, "I'll be going to the party later."
  • "When you have finished your time out," her dad said, "you must go to mom and say 'I'm sorry.' "
Some more examples of commas used inside quotation marks are:
  • "Don't be late for class," the teacher said.
  • "I am never talking to him again," my sister said angrily.
  • "It snowed last night," said Sam.
Some more examples of periods used inside of quotation marks are:
  • Anne called the boys "mean and nasty."
  • In his most charming manner he said, "I never give up."
  • She told him to neatly write the word "Holiday."
  • Alan's assignment is to read Wordsworth's "Daffodils."

Question Marks and Exclamation Marks

In American English the general rule for question marks and exclamation marks (or points) is: If the quoted material ends with a question mark or an exclamation mark, the punctuation should be inside the quotation marks. However, if the question mark or exclamation mark is not directly part of the quote, then the punctuation should go outside the quotation marks.
As you can see here, if the quote itself is an exclamation or question the punctuation mark is contained within the quotation marks:
  • Anthony asked, "Can we have pizza again for dinner?"
  • Mom shouted, "I said don't throw the ball in the house!"
  • I cried out to the child, "Watch for the ice!"
If the quoted words are embedded within a sentence that is an exclamation or question, then the punctuation goes outside the quotation marks, like this:
  • Who said the line "I'm the king of the world"?
  • How did the coach know it was me who said "I don't want to be on this team"?
  • You have to read the article "UFOs Are Real"!

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

(54) HOW TO PRONOUNCE GIF! - YouTube

(54) HOW TO PRONOUNCE GIF! - YouTube: Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

What Goes In The Front Matter Of Your Book? BookBaby Blog

What Goes In The Front Matter Of Your Book? BookBaby Blog: What you include in the front matter of your book depends on the information you want to impart to your reader to help enhance, explain, or set things up.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

How to Use an Em Dash, According to Cormac McCarthy

How to Use an Em Dash, According to Cormac McCarthy: Novelist Cormac McCarthy has spent twenty years editing what feels like the opposite of a novel: scientific papers by faculty members and postdocs at the Santa Fe Institute. Some of the scientists he worked with have paraphrased and compiled McCarthy’s best writing advice. It applies to all kinds of writing, from emails to novels.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Bring Back Handwriting: It’s Good for Your Brain - Elemental

Bring Back Handwriting: It’s Good for Your Brain - Elemental: Not so long ago, putting pen to paper was a fundamental feature of daily life. Journaling and diary-keeping were commonplace, and people exchanged handwritten letters with friends, loved ones, and…

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Bad vs. Badly - Grammar and Punctuation

Bad vs. Badly - Grammar and Punctuation: The word bad is an adjective used to modify nouns and pronouns. Example: She was in a bad accident. Adverbs often end in ly.

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Thursday, June 27, 2019

How to Write Comedy: Using Real Life Stories for Funny Inspiration

How to Write Comedy: Using Real Life Stories for Funny Inspiration: Stephen Rosenfield shares three tips on taking a funny, real-life story and using it as the inspiration to write comedy for your audience.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

10 words per page

Ten words per page.

That’s how many words get scanned the first time through. 

Perhaps five on a billboard.

Which means that your memo, your ad, your announcement,

your post–you get ten words.

Highlight the ten of the 1,000 you’ve written. Which ten

do you want someone to scan so that they’re intrigued 

enough to slow down and read the rest?

If you can begin with the ten words and write around 

them, you have the foundation for an effective message.

As Jay Levinson said, the best billboard ever said, 

“Free coffee, next exit.”

What do we see when we scan your work?

(50) Writers' Row - YouTube

(50) Writers' Row - YouTube: David Gane and D. C. Wright-Hammer discuss writing, twitter's #writingcommunity, and the business side of being an independent author. Guests join to offer a...

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Help Me Name My Character - Every Writer

Help Me Name My Character - Every Writer: I see the questions on Twitter about once a week: Can you please help me name my characters? What is a good Swedish name for a character? I see these questions in many variations, so I thought I would put together a list of sites that help you name and define characters.

Monday, June 3, 2019

Discounts and New Writer Award

Discounts and New Writer Award: Now Accepting: New Writers Awards Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions are open for the 2019 New Writer Awards. Hundreds in cash prizes plus ...

Friday, May 17, 2019

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Book Trades | Port Book and News First St., Port Angeles

Book Trades | Port Book and News: Port Book and News accepts used books for trade Monday thru Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm.
We offer 30% of the original cover price in credit which can be used towards the purchase of new or used books.

Friday, May 10, 2019

10 Words Editors Hate - Every Writer

10 Words Editors Hate - Every Writer: 10 Words Editors Hate We are talking about literary writing here, in most cases. Genre writing tends to be a little different, and some of these words are

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Is 'absolutely' overused? Absolutely! - CNN.com

Is 'absolutely' overused? Absolutely! - CNN.com: Absolutely!

Should People Stop Saying "Absolutely" So Much? Absolutely! - A Short Rant on an Overused Expression and Why it Should be Avoided - Community in Mission

Should People Stop Saying "Absolutely" So Much? Absolutely! - A Short Rant on an Overused Expression and Why it Should be Avoided - Community in Mission: One of the most overused terms in modern speech is the word “absolutely.” As in, “Do you want some gravy with those potatoes?” “Absolutely!” Or, “Would you agree that solution ‘X’ is the best solution to problem ‘Y’?”  “Absolutely!” What to call this … an expression? A semantic substitution for “yes?” A logism? A hyperbole? … Continue reading "Should People Stop Saying "Absolutely" So Much? Absolutely! – A Short Rant on an Overused Expression and Why it Should be Avoided"

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

May 2019 | Poetry Magazine | Poetry Foundation

May 2019 | Poetry Magazine | Poetry Foundation: Shane McCrae, Ariana Reines, Philip Metres, Catherine Wagner, T.J. Jarrett, Bianca Stone, Charif Shanahan, Martha Serpas, David Harsent, Miller Oberman, Anthony Anaxagorou, Paula Bohince, Devin Johnston, Ron Padgett, Emily Liebowitz, Natalie Eilbert, Randall Horton, Richard Garcia, Dunya Mikhail, David Baker, Lily Zhou, Elaine Equi, John Skoyles, Melissa Studdard, and others.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Using Tumeric??

Don't take Tumeric with blood-thinners including warfarin (Coumadin), clopidogrel (Plavix), and aspirin, among others.

Power Words Mind Map

Power Words Mind Map: Power Words Mind Map

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

30 Tongue Twisters Including the Hardest Ever!

30 Tongue Twisters Including the Hardest Ever!: Thirty tongue twisters to practice your speech from the easy through what is currently considered to be the hardest tongue twister in the world.  Good warm up if you plan to read aloud or record your work.

Monday, April 22, 2019

Comma Rules: A Quick Quide | Grammarly

Comma Rules: A Quick Quide | Grammarly: Ah, the comma. Of all the punctuation marks in English, this one is perhaps the most abused and misused. And it’s no wonder. There are…

Friday, April 12, 2019

10 Reasons to keep a writing journal

10 Reasons to keep a writing journal: Journals, because of computers and typing everything we write, are really becoming a think of the past. That’s a shame. You can get so much out of writing a journal.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Examples of Tropes

Examples of Tropes: A trope is a literary device. It can be a metaphor, a simile, an example of personification, verbal irony, and more. In contemporary usage, it can be a synonym for a cliche, too.  You will hear trope used a lot on the media.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

How to Publish a Poem - Every Writer

How to Publish a Poem - Every Writer: This article, "How to Publish a Poem"  is one of our old articles that was titled “How to Submit a Poem.” We have changed it somewhat, and changed the title

Saturday, March 30, 2019

How long is a short story? A question for the ages. - Every Writer

How long is a short story? A question for the ages. - Every Writer: The short story usually falls between 1,000 and 15,000 words. At around 15,000 words the novella is born. We are addressing the modern short story

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

POETRY Submission Manager

POETRY Submission Manager: POETRY Submission Manager Powered By Submittable - Accept and Curate Digital Content

Monday, January 14, 2019

Can You Identify The Plural Of These Words?

Can You Identify The Plural Of These Words?: Can you spell the plural forms of the most challenging words? Take this quiz to find out!

Friday, January 11, 2019

Replace These Words in Your Writing

Replace These Words in Your Writing: Writing is hard, and weird, and in the scheme of human existence pretty new. We’ve been talking for maybe half a million years, writing for just about 5,000. So sometimes we write stuff that we’d never say aloud. We use a complicated or “smart-sounding” word when a simpler word would work better. New York Times editor Dan Saltzstein listed some great examples on Twitter. They pop up in news media, but also in “business speak.” If you’re trying to write effectively, watch out for these:

MLA Style - Citation Help - Research Guides at University of Michigan Library

MLA Style - Citation Help - Research Guides at University of Michigan Library: Guide for students who have questions about citing sources correctly.

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Where to Download All the Books That Just Entered the Public Domain

Where to Download All the Books That Just Entered the Public Domain: Public Domain Day was yesterday, but you were probably hungover, so here’s how to download the tens of thousands of books that became legal to download for free in 2019.