I understand a slight majority of all people are introverted. And based on my interaction with other writers, I’d say, as a group, we’re decidedly introverted. If you’re introverted, read on. This post is for you. And if you’re not introverted, read on anyway to better understand us. Introversion Isn’t Bad: In a world that […]
I remember a substitute teacher in second grade. She was determined to instruct us, not merely maintain order, as the usual goal of our fill-in educators. She asked what letters were vowels. “A, E, I, O, and U” we shouted in unison. “And sometimes…?” she encouraged us. “Y” we called out. She repeated her last […]
I once read a local newspaper column by a copy editor claiming he uncovered a grammatical phenomenon, seemingly unique to southwestern Michigan: the habit of folks swapping the words “bring” and “take.” Indeed, I am guilty, forever “bringing” when I should be “taking” and “taking” what I should be “bringing.” At various times in my […]
I’ve been a long-time subscriber to Readers Digest. Although I read every joke and anecdote, I only read some of the articles. (You may draw your own conclusion about what that means.) A favorite feature of mine is “Word Power,” a multiple-choice vocab test, which for me sometimes ends up more like a “multiple guess” […]
At work, I receive a steady stream of article submissions for my magazines and websites. Lately, I’ve noticed something alarming: plagiarism. It’s not that I’m on the lookout for it, but some authors don’t even bother to cover their tracks. They copy content from a website and paste it directly into their article, including the […]
I call myself an “iteration writer,” meaning that through a process of repeated passes, or iterations, I fine-tune my writing until I achieve the results I desire. While some writers write quickly and then edit extensively, I’m not one of them. My first draft is generally good—not finished good, but respectable. When writing, each time […]
I’ve met many people who talk about writing. Writing is something they’ll do later: maybe next year, as soon as life slows down, or when they retire. But if we catch up with them next year, when life has slowed down (does that ever happen?), or after they retire, I suspect they’ll still be talking […]
How to Be Happy and Successful at Work and in Life by Simply Changing Your Mind By Barbara Burke (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Promoted as “a customer service fable,” The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey is ambitiously subtitled: How to Be Happy and Successful at Work and in Life by Simply Changing Your Mind. […]
Ditched: A Love Story By Robin Mellom (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Justina’s prom didn’t go at all as planned. After tumbling from a moving car just as the morning light emerged, she finds her prom dress ripped and stained, with no memory of what happened, no cellphone to call for help, and no money – […]
The sentence, “In my opinion, passive writing is bad,” exemplifies the passive voice. The active voice says, “Kill passive writing.” My title proclaims this. By nature, my words, both spoken and written, are passive. Many years ago, I became so irritated with Microsoft Word pointing out the passive sentences that I turned off the option. […]