Paranoia Won't Win

Pss. 3:8 “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah”

Paranoia Won’t Win

The holiday season is slowly creeping up on us. While Sunday the fifth was a family event for me, it was basically a prelude to what I can expect at the family get together for Christmas this year.

I think I can say without a doubt that this year has been a year filled with paranoia where toxins, food, and family are concerned. Oddly enough (or maybe not) my faith hasn’t been shaken as I fight for my life out here in the real world. I am more concerned with the food that’s being served at get-togethers and being around his family who might have questions, but paranoia didn’t win in the end. I shrugged off the anxiety and faced the people and event head-on.

When we walked in the door on Sunday, the aroma began its assault on me but didn’t break me. Society breaks me more than the family gathering ever can. Empty plates spread out on the tables and the attendees just finishing up, now in the chatting mode as laughter could be heard throughout. When we walked further into the house, his aunt asked me if I wanted something to eat and I kindly said, no thank you, we had already eaten. My hubby wasn’t hungry either as he ate a nice big cinnamon bun before we left our house. He’s been trying so hard to cut back on soda, sugar, and sweets that he turned down the brownies that his mother offered him until she placed them right in front of his face and kept asking over and over if he wanted any until he buckled. The man cannot refuse his mother. No means no goes right out the window.

The only one that opened the discussion on my health was his cherubic aunt. She is eighty years old but looking at her wrinkleless face, you’d never know her age. I’m telling you, my face has more wrinkles and age than her beautiful smooth face. She has the face that I’d imagine that of an angel having, it also helps that she reminds me of one of my grade school nuns. She drives down to Nebraska from Sioux Falls South Dakota to see her family a couple times a year!

She wasn’t intrusive, she was compassionate and I have no problem at all telling her how my protocol is going and all that I’m doing to keep myself alive. She is very supportive and agrees with everything I’ve done so far and will continue to do. She told me she prays for me every night and adds me to her church prayer list weekly. 

I realized something this weekend. I have an iron will! After being bombarded with what I should and shouldn’t eat for nine months, gently nudged with every beat cancer newsletter out there, with aromas abounding from every direction, I’m being, to me, brutally attacked by the toxic invasion.

Speaking of toxic invasion, I use my writing as a safe haven. My blog is my corner of the world that no one can bully me into submission. I write what I want and when I want, typos and grammar shreds to pieces in my hands and I don’t give a flying fig! If people worried as much about their health as they do my grammar incapability, I imagine they’d be pictures of health. I’m out here fighting for my life and you’re worried about a run-on sentence, a missing comma, and lousy punctuation? Honestly, I think you need more help than me. Just saying.

I write my blog as a journal. I share my blog so people can see what I’m going through and maybe in some small way help just one person to change their life. I’m not writing to be published, I’m writing for ME, to share with YOU, and hoping along the way, you see a glorious God working in me. That’s it, that is all I’m doing.

I think I may just need a break, from writing, from sharing, and basically from the world. God has given me the strength to get through this year; He has helped me decipher the positive from the negative. He’s given me loving caring friends who walk this walk with me and had it not been for them, I don’t feel I could muster the strength to get through all of the paranoia that invades my comfy zone.

I have changed so much this year, inside and out. I’ve allowed paranoia to try and take hold of me like the toxic everything that surrounds me. I am gently moving into what is good for Joni phase as I weed out the ‘I don’t need that phase’ and what OTHERS want for me. This journey is about ME. If your doctor wants to load you up on drugs and you take it all in like candy, good for you. Me, I am adamant about not accepting drugs as a normal way of living. I’m on a journey of health. If that offends you or makes you cringe, I’ll pray for you, it’s all I can do at this time.

I told my niece this weekend, “I feel great! I feel alive!” She asked me what I was drinking. I said I’m high on life! For four years I could barely walk, I was, many days, walking with a cane, unbalanced and depressed that my life was descending into a bottomless pit. God pulled me out of that pit with CANCER! While some see that diagnosis as a death sentence, I see it as a life sentence. I will have this illness for the rest of my life, but I am embracing the change of seasons not being swept out by fear and paranoia. God has granted me the STRENGTH to ACCEPT the things I cannot change, CHANGE the things I CAN, and the WISDOM to know the DIFFERENCE! (and no, I never went to A.A.) 

As God has abundantly blessed me on this journey may He bless you also on your journey. 

Pss. 24:5 “He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Apostrophe S Continued

Well let’s jump right in and see what we learn Grammar Book.

Rule 6

With a singular compound noun, show possession with 's at the end of the word.

Example:
my mother-in-law's hat
My example:
her father-in-law’s umbrella

Rule 7

If the compound noun is plural, form the plural first and then use the apostrophe.
My goodness, there’s a compound noun?
Example:
my two brothers-in-law's hats
My example: My sisters-in-law’s coats

Rule 8

Use the apostrophe and s after the second name only if two people possess the same item.
Examples:
Cesar and Maribel's home is constructed of redwood.
Cesar's and Maribel's job contracts will be renewed next year.
Indicates separate ownership.
Cesar and Maribel's job contracts will be renewed next year.
Indicates joint ownership of more than one contract.
Uh oh, it might be sinking in.

Rule 9

Never use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns: his, hers, its, theirs, ours, yours, whose. They already show possession so they do not require an apostrophe.
Correct:
This book is hers, not yours.
Incorrect:
Sincerely your's.
I actually remember this one! YAY me!

Rule 10

The only time an apostrophe is used for it's is when it is a contraction for it is or it has.
Examples:
It's a nice day.
It's your right to refuse the invitation.
It's been great getting to know you.
My example:
It’s been nice learning.
It’s going to be a blessed journey.
It has its ups and downs. (that was a trick sentence) Wink!

Rule 11

The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes.
Examples:
She consulted with three M.D.s. (Okay, I’m confused again M.D.s.??? The word plural possessives creeps me out)
BUT
She went to three M.D.s' offices.
The apostrophe is needed here to show plural possessive.
She learned her ABCs.
the 1990s not the 1990's
the '90s or the mid-'70s not the '90's or the mid-'70's
She learned her times tables for 6s and 7s.
Exception:
Use apostrophes with capital letters and numbers when the meaning would be unclear otherwise.
Examples:
Please dot your i's.
You don't mean is. (Well duh! I knew this one.)
Ted couldn't distinguish between his 6's and 0's.
You need to use the apostrophe to indicate the plural of zero or it will look like the word Os. To be consistent within a sentence, you would also use the apostrophe to indicate the plural of 6's.
My examples:
She went to the M.D.s’ offices in her town.  (Still doesn’t look right to me)
I learned my ABCs in kindergarten.
I was a child of the 80s
I use the word zero’s when I write.

Rule 12
Use the possessive case in front of a gerund (-ing word).
Examples:
Alex's skating was a joy to behold.
This does not stop Joan's inspecting of our facilities next Thursday.
My example:
Adam’s painting won first prize.
This doesn’t stop Joni’s nagging.

We’re almost done this lesson. HipHipHooray!

Rule 13

If the gerund has a pronoun in front of it, use the possessive form of that pronoun.

Examples:
I appreciate your inviting me to dinner. I appreciated his working with me to resolve the conflict.

My example: NONE

So there you have it! I see on the site that they have a quiz following the lesson. I’m wondering if I should take it and see how well I do, or how bad I do. I’ll get back to you on that. Oh wait, the quiz is for a FEE? Of course it is, you can’t learn for free ya know.

Next, we’re gonna learn about the comma! Aren’t you all so happy? Or do you all know this stuff already and don’t NEED a refresher?

Well la-di-da! Show off. *chuckles here*

Apostrophe S

Okay, I’m going to admit it; apostrophe s trips me up daily. Just when I think I’ve got it nailed, I misuse it, and someone QUICKLY calls me on it. So I misuse commas too, but nobody really cares about them; they’ll overlook them but not apostrophes no way!!

I don’t depend on spellcheck but often times I’ll see that squiggly line, fix it to what it recommends, only to have a grammar pro point out I misused the apostrophe S. I’m going to work on just where that comma goes in quotation marks also, but right now I need to work on apostrophe S!

My son said to me last week, “Mom, the apostrophe S shows possession.”

I really need my son to teach me what I learned in grade school? Apparently!

I found this helpful grammar site:  Grammar Book 

Did you know there are THIRTEEN rules of the apostrophe??? Well color me blonde!

I’m going to practice, refresh, if you will:

  

Rule 1

Use the apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is always placed at the spot where the letter(s) has been removed.

My example:

It’s – it is

Doesn’t – does not

Isn’t – is not

Rule 2 

Use the apostrophe to show possession. Place the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession.

This is where my confusion begins.

Their example:

one actress's hat
one child's hat
Ms. Chang's house

My example:

Billy’s hat

Mr. Roper’s hat

NOTE: Although names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form, it is preferred.

Their example:

Mr. Jones's golf clubs
Texas's weather
Ms. Straus's daughter

Confused! I was taught that we’d add an apostrophe AFTER the S. See rule FIVE.

Ms. Jones’ house

Texas’ weather

But if I read what Grammar Book is saying, I’m wrong.

  
Rule 3
Use the apostrophe where the noun that should follow is implied.

Their example:

This was his father's, not his, jacket.

My example:
His father’s home never felt like his own.

Rule 4

To show plural possession, make the noun plural first. Then immediately use the apostrophe.

Examples:
two boys' hats two women's hats
two actresses' hats
two children's hats
Okay, there’s the S’ !!! Are they TRYING to confuse us? Is this legal?!? (denote sarcasm)
One more:

Rule 5

Do not use an apostrophe for the plural of a name.

Examples:
We visited the Sanchezes in Los Angeles.
The Changs have two cats and a dog.


I have no examples! I need to go off and drink all of this in. I’ll continue tomorrow with the rest of the confusion. Don’t worry, I’m just refreshing what I THOUGHT I already knew!

ENJOY!

Punctuation Skills

Or my lack thereof. Prickly little buggers they are, commas and apostrophes and such!

I need to work on my punctuation skills. How am I going to teach YOU skills if I don’t even know them myself? I guess Schoolhouse Rock wasn’t sinking in as strongly as I thought it was. Yeah I still sing “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly get your adverbs here.” But see that <--- my punctuation stinks in a big way!

Interjections show excitement or emotion,
they're generally SET apart from a sentence by an exclamation point,
or by a comma when the feelings not as strong.

I’ve been called on my lousy punctuation skills to the point of it digging in me and possibly scarring me for life. I’m a writer, I NEED punctuation skills! Reminds me of a facebook post from a Writing page:

“Let’s eat Grandma!”

“Let’s eat, Grandma!”

Do you see how important that comma is? Well gosh-a-rooney! Am I really THAT bad?

I didn’t think I was until it was pointed out many years ago on a Poetry site that I, and I quote, ‘Basterdized punctuation’. I even wrote a poem with the same title since I did feel a little slighted and I was new to this infernal world of spiders. (worldwide web?)

I slaughter punctuation! Not intentionally mind you but I do. I overuse comma’s, misplace apostrophes, and I love the exclamation point! I barely use them now because I feel someone is going to laugh at my lack of skill in using them. So, I’m going to learn! See that?

This was my first page in trying to understand punctuation. Punctuation

Hey what can I say, I clicked the first one that came up.

I see an error and wonder how accurate the site is:

A set of commas is a means of separating items in a list.	The details required are name, date of birth,  address and telephone number.
Sometimes a comma is needed between the last two items to ensure clarity.	The details required are name, date of birth, address and telephone number.

Both the sentences are exactly the same, so what are they telling me? And I wonder why I slaughter punctuation, eh?

Another site I found was helpful, Skills You'll Need , but I’m still weeding my way through to see just where it is I need help the most. You know, it would be so much more helpful if someone pointed out just what I slaughtered instead of chuckling and saying, “Boy you fudged that up. Where did YOU learn grammar?” 

I guess laughing at my ineptness makes them feel that much more intelligent themselves. Another way of me, making people feel good. Glad I could make you smile.

As I work through my grammar skills, I’m also working on my writing. It seems something was lost that I need to rein in and recapture what has tried to get away. I make typos, I’m human, but if I cut up my punctuation to the extent you’re laughing at my ability, by all means, correct me.

Punctuation skills are not my strong point, WRITING is!

Grammar Rules to Pay Attention To

7 grammar rules to pay attention to


Written by: Ben Yagoda

Used without permission giving him full credit and promoting

his book: How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them

Everyone has grammar issues and I myself am not exempt. I could probably use a refresher course and will more than likely take one, but I’m sharing this article with you because I found it very informative for the writer. ~Joni

Semicolons should be used rarely, if at all. And beware dangling modifiers!

I recently wrote an article for TheWeek.com about bogus grammar "rules" that aren't worth your time. However, there are still plenty of legitimate rules that you should be aware of. Not following them doesn't make you a bad person or even (necessarily) a bad writer. I'm sure that all of them were broken at one point or another by Henry James , Henry Adams , or some other major author named Henry. Moreover, grammar is one of the least pressing problems when it comes to the poor state of writing today. In my new book, How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them, things like wordiness, poor word choice, awkwardness, and bad spelling — which have nothing to do with grammar — take up the bulk of my attention.

Nevertheless, anyone who wants to write in a public setting has to be aware of grammar. (And I'm concerned with writing here; talking is a whole different ballgame.) If you make these errors, you're likely to be judged harshly by an editor you want to publish your work; an executive who, you hope, will be impressed enough by your cover letter to hire you; or a reader you want to persuaded by your argument. In each case, there's a pretty easy workaround, so better safe than sorry.

1. The subjunctive

This one is pretty simple. When you're writing about a non-true situation — usually following the word if or the verb wish — the verb to be is rendered as were.

So:

* If I was were a rich man.

* I wish I was were an Oscar Mayer wiener.

* If Hillary Clinton was were president, things would be a whole lot different.

If you are using if for other purposes (hypothetical situations, questions), you don't use the subjunctive.

*The reporter asked him if he were was happy.

* If an intruder were was here last night, he would have left footprints, so let's look at the ground outside.

2. Bad parallelism

This issue comes up most often in lists, for example: My friend made salsa, guacamole, and brought chips. If you start out by having made cover the first two items, it has to cover subsequent ones as well. To fix, you usually have to do just a little rewriting. Thus, My friend made salsa and guacamole and brought chips to go with them.

3. Verb problems

There are a few persistent troublemakers you should be aware of.

* I'm tired, so I need to go lay lie down.

* The fish laid lay on the counter, fileted and ready to broil.

* Honey, I shrunk shrank the kids.

* In a fit of pique, he sunk sank the toy boat.

* He seen saw it coming.

(The last three are examples of verbs where people sometimes switch the past and participle forms. Thus, it would be correct to write: I have shrunk the kids; He had sunk the boat; and He had seen it coming.)

4. Pronoun problems

Let's take a look at three little words. Not "I love you," but me, myself and I. Grammatically, they can be called object, reflexive, and subject. As long as they're by themselves, object and subject don't give anyone problems. That is, no one who's an adult native English speaker would say Me walked to the bus stop or He gave the book to I. For some reason, though, things can get tricky when a pronoun is paired with a noun. We all know people who say things like Me and Fred had lunch together yesterday, instead of Fred and I... Heck, most of us have said it ourselves; for some reason, it comes trippingly off the tongue. We also (most of us) know not to use it in a piece of writing meant to be published. Word to the wise: Don't use it in a job interview, either.

There's a similar attraction to using the subject instead of object. Even Bill Clinton did this back in 1992 when he asked voters to give Al Gore and I [instead of me] a chance to bring America back. Or you might say, Thanks for inviting my wife and I, or between you and I… Some linguists and grammarians have mounted vigorous and interesting defenses of this usage. However, it's still generally considered wrong and should be avoided.

A word that's recently become quite popular is myself — maybe because it seems like a compromise between I and me. But sentences like Myself and my friends went to the mall or They gave special awards to Bill and myself don't wash. Change the first to My friends and I… and the second to Bill and me.

5. The 'dangling' conversation

In a class, I once assigned students to "review" a consumer product. One student chose a bra sold by Victoria's Secret. She wrote:

Sitting in a class or dancing at the bar, the bra performed well…. Though slightly pricey, your breasts will thank you.

The two sentences are both guilty of dangling modifiers because (excuse me if I'm stating the obvious), the bra did not sit in a class or dance at the bar, and "your breasts" are not slightly pricey.

Danglers are inexplicably attractive, and even good writers commit this error a lot … in their first drafts. Here's a strategy for smoking these bad boys out in revision. First, recognize sentences that have this structure: MODIFIER-COMMA-SUBJECT-VERB. Then change the order to: SUBJECT-COMMA-MODIFIER-COMMA-VERB. If the result makes sense, you're good to go. If not, you have a dangler. So in the first sentence above, the rejiggered sentence would be:

The bra, sitting in a class or dancing at a bar, performed well.

Nuh-uh. The solution here, as it often is, is just to add a couple of words: Whether you're sitting in a class or dancing at the bar, the bra performs well.

6. The semicolon

I sometimes say that when you feel like using a semicolon, lay lie down till the urge goes away. But if you just can't resist, remember that there are really only two proper uses for this piece of punctuation. One is to separate two complete clauses (a construction with a subject and verb that could stand on its own as a sentence). I knocked on the door; no one answered. The second is to separate list items that themselves contain punctuation. Thus, The band played Boise, Idaho; Schenectady, New York; and Columbus, Ohio.

Do not use a semicolon in place of a colon, for example, There is only one piece of punctuation that gives Yagoda nightmares; the semicolon.

7. Words

As I noted in my previous article, the meaning of words inevitably and perennially change. And you can get in trouble when you use a meaning that has not yet been widely accepted. Sometimes it's fairly easy to figure out where a word stands in this process. It's become more common to use nonplussed to mean not bothered, or unfazed, but that is more or less the opposite of the traditional meaning, and it's still too early to use it that way when you're writing for publication. (As is spelling unfazed as unphased.) On the other hand, no one thinks anymore that astonish means "turn to stone," and it would be ridiculous to object to anyone who does so. But there are a lot of words and expressions in the middle. Here's one man's list of a few meanings that aren't quite ready for prime time:

* Don't use begs the question. Instead use raises the question.

* Don't use phenomena or criteria as singular. Instead use phenomenon or criterion.

* Don't use cliché as an adjective. Instead use clichéd.

*Don't use comprised of. Instead use composed of/made up of.

* Don't use less for count nouns such people or miles. Instead use fewer.

* Don't use penultimate (unless you mean second to last). Instead use ultimate.

* Don't use lead as past tense of to lead. Instead use led.

I hesitate to state what should be obvious, but sometimes the obvious must be stated. So here goes: Do not use it's, you're or who's when you mean its, your or whose. Or vice versa!

Ben Yagoda is the author of How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Errors and the Best Ways to Avoid Them and nine other books. He is a Professor of English and Journalism at the University of Delaware. His website is www.benyagoda.com

Getting My Point Across!

Grammar Slammer!

While I am on a blogging roll, I thought I’d add this to the mix, getting my point across.

When we speak to a person, we have the luxury of eye contact, arm gesturing, head bobbing, smirks, smiles or grins. In the writing world we don’t have that luxury to help us get the point across unless the board has emoticon smileys all over the place as you can express yourself through them. Sometimes people OVER use them which makes me think they’re on a caffeine high of some sort, or just over excited, sitting behind the keyboard itching for human contact.

In the written world of words, like a hand held, real live paper-filled book with words, how is one to get the emotion across to the reader? I’m going to say punctuation. Because we don’t have emoticons in the publishing world, are you going to get your point across to your reader without that smiley emoticon? I sure hope so.

You’re standing on your own two feet, smiley abandons you and all you have is your words. When we write, there is no gestures, or timbres of a voice that the reader can pick up, so we fully rely on proper punctuation.

First there is the missed period. Sure it can mean you’re pregnant but in your writing it could mean a total misunderstanding of your words. The period is going to tell your reader that your thought is complete, and that you’re going to string together another thought. If writers forget the period, they have a run-on long sentence, (a big no-no in the writing world) or that the writer has an incomplete thought.

Example:
Sally and Joe went out to eat humans are a funny species eating all the time they also went window- shopping down the avenue for clothes they enjoyed each others company.

Sally and Joe went out to eat. Humans are a funny species, eating all the time. They also went window-shopping down the avenue for clothes. They enjoyed each others company.

Did you know that the second-most familiar punctuation mark is the comma; it is also the most misused punctuation mark. It’s used to indicate a minor but necessary pause, and its proper use is simply invaluable to good writing. The omission or misuse can cause worlds of confusion to your reader.

John ate furiously grandma for dinner was so relaxed.

A world of confusion ensues.

John ate furiously. Grandma, for dinner, was so relaxed.

I like this example:

When I’m eating people avoid me

People avoid me when I am eating. (sloppy eater)

Avoid me when I am eating people. (cannibal)

Do you see it? COMMA: people! Are you grasping all that punctuation can do for you? Sometimes in my writing even with the proper punctuation, I am totally misunderstood. Someone will say to me, “you sounded upset.” (angry, ungrateful, etc.) And I’m thinking, really? My words on a page have no sound, so how did you read that into my words.

I realized that not only with punctuation, misplaced words can lead the reader down a wrong assumption path.

Example:

He works long drawn out days. I have no car to rely on while he works. I’m in a sea of change and my routine is rocked. Minimum wage won’t pay the massive amount of bills.

That sounds bitter? Ungrateful? Pained?

REDO:

I’m so grateful for the long days of work. Minimum wage is better than nothing at all, in this day and age. If the Lord wants me to have an additional car, He’ll bless me with one. We’ll manage like we always do.

To the eye, certain words omitted means there is something the writer isn’t saying. But add a few words like: GRATEFUL, BETTER, ADDITIONAL, BLESS, MANAGE and the person might understand your true emotion.

Sure turns it around making the statement sound more upbeat, doesn’t it? Enjoy your writing, but most of all don’t miss those periods or comma usage, it could mean a difference in life or worse, death.


Book Bites:

Write Right by Jan Venolia

(I couldn’t resist)


Grammatically Correct by Anne Stillman

Point of View ~ POV

The act of writing is an act of optimism. You would not take the trouble to do it if you felt it didn't matter.
Edward Albee

 POV or point of view, is the writer’s tool that is going to make or break your story.

The point of view in a story is the narrator’s voice that is telling the story. It is whose eyes the reader will be seeing through. Like Alice looking through the looking glass? Mad Hatter couldn’t tell you what Alice saw now could he?

In first person POV we will see through Jane’s eyes. What Jane sees, smells, hears, and especially what Jane thinks. (I think of Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill house.) This is an excellent portrayal of first person POV. But with first person POV, you have limited yourself to only Janes thoughts. The other character’s being introduced to the story will only be a mirror of what JANE portrays them to be. Again read the above novel by Shirley Jackson and you’ll get the idea of how paranoid her main character sounds.

Now trouble arrives when you try saying that John heard a noise that sounded like glass shattering. You have now shifted POV’s and this can be a dangerous line to cross when making it clear to the reader that this is Jane’s story and not John’s.

When you’re a beginning writer it is fundamentally important to learn the craft of POV.

I’ll try to make this simple, as if POV is ever simple. It can get pretty complicated but I’ll give you the basics. First person, second person and third person POV.

In first person, we’re going to use the word I a lot because I am going to tell you the story from my POV. Like many blogs that are written in first person POV, we use the word I to show that this is my perspective and not yours.

POV is basically, inside whose head are you going to tell the story from? You need to understand this factor of POV if you are ever to be taken seriously as a writer. Not understanding this concept can make your writing look amateurish to say the least and also make it look like you haven’t studied the craft long enough to understand.

  

Second person is a little, no A LOT trickier. I’ll let you read about it here, since I still get confused with it myself.

Third person POV is the point of view that most authors use. It is much like the first person, except you’ll use he saw the road crack before them instead of I saw the road crack. It is essentially using ‘he’ instead of ‘I’.

Now the tricky third person pov is the ever-elusive third person omniscient. Though omniscient is on occasion used in the beginning of the story, the writer switches to third person to get a tight grip on the main characters view.

Unbeknownst to me, Marge didn’t like the day that was about to unfold.

OMNISCIENT POV: This is where the reader is in everyone’s head and not really clinging to one character and getting to know him/her. You virtually give up the characters by using this point of view because no one can carry this all the way through a story and make it a profitable best seller. If you know of one author that has, then do tell! You can start a novel in this way, but really we switch to maybe a third person POV

The pov is tricky in writing so if you plan on mastering the craft of writing this would be a helpful tool to practice, read others work, and implement it into your own writing. By reading what others have written before you, you’ll get the idea of POV and you’ll also recognize WHEN the shifts occur and how to masterfully shift pov yourself.

The exercise I like to practice with most? Say we have a prompt of 500 words. Write the exercise in first person. Try the same story only switch to third person. Write it again in third person omniscient. (I NEVER tackle 2^nd person and that is why I won’t touch the subject!)

Show your writing group your different pov’s of your stories. You ARE in a workshop right? After all my blogging about how important it is to surround yourself with other writers? SHAME ON YOU!

Your writing group will be able to help you see the difference, feel the difference and master the different ways to serve the POV to your reader. There isn’t enough room in a 500-word-blog to give you ALL of the details of POV, but trust me on this one. This is one tricky part of the craft to master. But once you have it licked, your writing will shine like the morning sunrise!

For further reading:

Grammar Girl

Suite 101

Book Bites:

The Power of Pointof View by Alicia Rasley

Rivet your Readers with deepPOV by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Elements of Writing

Elements of writing

There are eight parts of speech. Can you identify them? Words are based on these eight parts of speech. They are:
noun, pronoun, adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction, interjection


noun - a person, place or thing.
verb - asserts something about the subject. It is the action of the sentence.
pronoun - a substitute for a noun: he, she, it, which, etc. (tricky these pronouns are. Do your research!)
adverb - modifies a verb,  adjective, phrase or clause
adjective - modifies a noun or pronoun
preposition -  links the nouns, pronouns, phrases to other words in a sentence
conjunction -  more tricky words: but, and, or, for, so, yet
interjection - is a word added for emotion! For excitement. (Remember schoolhouse Rock) Yay! Aww... Hey! Eeek!




Pronoun cases (subjective, possessive, objective)
verb tenses: active or passive?
Can you pick out phrases and clauses? Would you know how to punctuate each?
Then there’s the punctuation usage. (Yes, I over use the exclamation mark!)


All this to become a writer? Is it even worth all the effort for you to put into it? For me it wasn’t, but for others, they’ve went on to great success in the writing world and have become published authors. I could go on and on about perseverance, and hanging in there, and push yourself to the limit. But after nine years of persevering, mentoring, teaching other folk the craft of writing, and giving my all to the writing world, it took one bad crop to spoil every ounce of hard work that I put in and now, I don’t write like I used to. I don’t really care to write anymore. No more writing site, no more writing friends and colleagues, I have within my grasp, a blog. That’s it.


Sure I love writing my blog posts, I write poetry also, but a grammarian? I have never reached that level. I wrote because I loved to write! Knowledge was a bonus, but no one is perfect. I’ll add that if you’re going for perfection in your writing, then you’re going at it all wrong.


The link provided for Grammar, gives an individual rundown on each of these essential elements. You will need to study these elements whether in a class, course, or by other means: library, internet, so that you know the proper way to write a sentence. To write a paragraph, you will surely want knowledge of how to write the sentence first. Improper usage of the words can make you appear not very knowledgeable in a field where you need knowledge.


There are many courses out there for you, whether for a fee: Writers Digest offers many seminars on writing for a costly fee, then there are sites for a low fee, but not many active classes so people run away. Then there is you, the writer; ready willing and able to go at this writing biz, full steam ahead.


My best advice is this: Find a site that suits YOUR needs. Whether you work alone on gaining grammar and writing knowledge, then post to the writing site to help you get some critical feedback, but be very careful of becoming ‘friends’ in the community setting. Just as in real life, they may be there to help you but they can also be the ones who put a halt to your dream, out of jealousy? Envy? Whatever the case may be, protect your heart before oozing it to the public, for sure you’ll meet with a dead end.

Grammar Police

Grammar Police!

***

I thought that was a funny title since I am on so many occasions the one being ‘charged’ with the crime of  Grammar Faux Pas.
I do try my best but I found that I am human after all, I make mistakes, and I lose sight of grammar skills when I get into the Zone of writing and all grammar rules fly out the window on a catapult!

I’m not talking typo’s here, for today I’m referring to words. This week we’ll get into other aspects of grammar skills but today, words are on my mind. I was talking to a friend from church, she is a fellow writer also, and we got to talking about similar sounding words that are frequently misused or abused, should I say? Or just plain old misunderstood.

read/read --  I read the book in one day. Or  I read a lot of books in a week.

lose/loose -- I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached. 
                   My head is attached by loose threads holding it together.

wood/would --  This one seems easy enough but you’d be surprised by the writers who misuse it.
                         The wood on deck is solid oak.  
                         I would rather be somewhere else today.

its/it’s --  It’s a sunny day out there. (contraction of it is)  
              My book has a mind of its own.

desert/dessert -- The desert was not a place to be all alone in my travels.  
                         I wanted dessert after a full course meal!

coarse/course -- The material was coarse to the touch. 
                         The course at school was not fulfilling for me.

your/you’re -- Apparently this is my most abused word. I think they’re more of a typo though because I know the difference between your and you’re.
                       Did you get your hair done again?
                       You’re not going to believe this! (contraction of you are)

their/there/they’re -- Another extremely misunderstood set of words.
                       I wonder where they’re supposed to be placed?
                       Place them over there.
                       Their team won the trophy.

We have homophones -- Words which have the same pronunciation but different meanings and (sometimes) spellings.
 
homonyms -- Words which have the same pronunciation and spelling but different meanings.
 
and homographs -- Words which have the same spellings but different meaning and (sometimes) pronunciation.

Can you imagine coming from another country and trying to learn our language? If I’m an American and get confused, imagine someone from Argentina, Russia, or Mexico trying to write our language. Speaking it might be difficult for a foreigner but trying to spell and write the English language? That is an entire different story. (no pun intended.)

While doing research for today’s blog, I found quite a few useful sites for the writer to use as they venture down the writing road. I’m hoping to do a week long Grammar Police series but with another Omaha trip this week and it being a Holy week, we might have to run into next week, but stick with me, there sure is a lot to be gleaned in the way of knowledge for your writing endeavors. Who needs a course in college when you have a blogful of info right here at your finger tips.



Have a grate week, I mean GREAT week! (pun intended)

This weeks lesson ~ Dialogue

We’re onto lesson five (whew, I made it) and lesson five is dialogue. In the quiet hallways I no longer roam and assist, my classroom is the only haven that I’ll stay and lend my hand to the student. They have done so good this session and I am proud of the writers that I will leave behind in two weeks. They have all come a long way in these past five weeks.

This week we move on to dialogue. Now dialogue is tricky in that new writers think that a tag of he said/ she said in a lulling poetic voice, is what is needed after every person speaks. I have seen writers add so many tags that you’re left looking at all the tags to see who was speaking or what the conversation was to begin with.

Is that what you want? People trying to decipher the ‘who’ is speaking, or looking at your words fly by and rolling eyes at your inept writing skills? No, of course not. We want our reader to embrace our words, hug them like a comfy blankie! We want the people who might actually pay money to read our words to be left with a feeling of ahhh...not a feeling of nahhhh.

Some tips on writing dialogue, portions from Jenny Wiehardt:

1. Always use a comma between the dialogue and the tag line.
ex: “Mark could you come here for a second,” she bellowed in the empty room.

2. Periods go inside the quotation marks. And since I am in America, I give you the American English rules. Other punctuation like the semicolons, dashes, question marks and exclamation points -- goes outside unless it directly pertains to the material within the quotes.
ex: “I don't want any stupid cake," says the guy who goes to Europe and the Middle East. "Where's the champagne?" he says, and laughs.
In the next example, the question mark goes outside the quotation marks because it is not part of the material being quoted:
Did he say, "We should all go to the movies"?
Also note that the sentence ends with only one mark of punctuation: the question mark. In general, don't use double punctuation marks, but go with the stronger punctuation.
(Question marks and exclamation points are stronger than commas and periods.)
 

3. When a tag line interrupts a sentence, it should be set off by commas. Note that the first letter of the second half of the sentence is in lower case.
ex: “I hear footsteps,” she said, “they’re coming down the hallway now.”
Notice also, the continued piece begins in lower case.
 

4. To signal a quotation within a quotation, use single quotes:
This one stumps me a lot of the times in my writing,
ex: "Have you read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ yet?" he asked her.
 

5. For interior dialogue, italics are appropriate, just be consistent.
That means when the person is speaking to themselves.
ex. Janie thought, here we go again.
 

6. If a quotation spills out over more than one paragraph, don't use end quotes at the close of the first paragraph. Use them only when a character is done speaking.
***
Sometimes punctuation is everything in dialogue. I’ve seen where the author punctuates the one person speaking in a conversation, but then the author forgoes it when the second character is speaking. It’s a matter of preference and when the novel/story is published, the editor will surely help you decide on which to use.
 

I hope you’ve enjoyed the tips of the day. Now get writing and most of all...Write Right!

OOPS Factor

Job 19: 4 And be it indeed
that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
***

Oops that was wrong. Did you ever have that happen to you? Have an oops moment in writing? Well allow me.

The oops factor is a term we writers use when we have a, dare I say, mistake? This is why I say oops because it just sounds so much better and comes off as being retrievable but we all know, an oops is non- refundable.

Have you ever submitted a work and breathed that deep sigh of relief as you finally sent your work out and as months pass you think, “Hmmm, I still haven’t heard from them.” Then you pull the piece that you submitted out of the secret file that you have it hidden in, and take a second look at it.

OOPS! There it is, shining right in your face, a mistake glaring at you like an eyeball in the sky! It is plain as day so why didn’t you see it BEFORE you clicked that little submit button? Why? Because you were already excited about sending it out into the realm of the unknown and thought for sure it would bring you joy as it got the old accepted letter (one that you quickly print out and make a beautiful new wallpaper out of.)

Lesson learned. Before you ever submit, click submit, or send out your work, there is a checklist that you as a writer need to be aware of that will make the wait less tense filled and maybe a more pleasant outcome will result by doing the list!

1. Always check the guidelines. If it calls for 1200 words, don’t ever think that your writing is so special that the editors will overlook that one word extra that you added. In poetry markets they usually ask for 20-26 lines, don’t give them 30. It will get tossed in the trash. Also check the requirements for font and spacing. No editor wants fancy font! Remember that.

2. Always check for grammatical errors. This is important for submitting to magazines or workshops that you might be in. Putting your best work forward shows the reader that you have taken the time to know what it is that you are submitting. Editors are not going to fix your punctuation errors, nor is any writing group. Learn the concept.

3. Always check the correct spelling. If you are in Canada, then editors want the correct spelling, ie: labor/labour. But in America, they want the American spelling or else they will ask for the proper English spelling.

4. Don’t assume. Don’t assume that your work will be critiqued by a magazine editor. If she/he drops you a note saying fix this or that, then good for you! But they will NOT correct grammar, spelling issues for you, this should have been done before hitting the submit button!

5. ALWAYS and I mean always after writing, revising and preparing to submit, let it STAND for a day or two and come back with an eagle eye and read it. Read it OUT LOUD so you get the right sound to a sentence.

These are simple five tips that will aid you in the rechecking of your work before submitting. Don’t let the editors have to work for what they are reading. Give them something clean and professional and chances are you’ll get that acceptance letter sooner than expected.

Write Right Folks!

p.s. Thanks Raven :-)

Bad Manners in Writing

Are you a writer? Then act like one!

Here is a general list of bad manners in writing:
The number one thing that is a big turn off in writing is SPELLING ERRORS!
Spelling errors are not acceptable in the writing world. Maybe in an amateurish setting spelling errors are okay, but when you need to be perceived as a professional, you need to spell right. And no the chat room acronyms are not acceptable in the professional writing world. Not all readers are familiar with the lingo so please don’t assume that your peers or editors are either.

TWO: Over wording your sentences with long descriptive images and explanations.
ex: The tall, lengthy brown, uneven tree stood in the bellowing soft dappling sun rays.

Some claim the use of cumulative sentence structure, I call it laziness in bringing home a point that you intended. If you don’t know how to structure a cumulative sentence correctly, by all means, LEARN before using them. Big words, too much imagery is a big turn-off!

THREE: The passive use of structuring your sentences. Something as simple as WAS can be switched to IS, making your writing much tighter that the reader is in the moment. Pass up the passive, I say!

FOUR: Punctuation! If you’re not sure about it, then look at a grammatical site that will give you the right answer. Showing sloppy work is for the lazy. When you are a new writer, you want to show your BEST. So learn the correct punctuation. And this goes for the over use of ellipses too.
The punctuation should be INSIDE the double quotation marks. The single quotation mark is not proper (in our English grammar.) Learn grammar!

FIVE: The over-use of exclamation marks! I have the tendency to drag my exclamation marks out to bring home a point, but never in my story would I use more than one. If the reader doesn’t get that you mean to amplify your point, don’t add five more and think they’ll get the point then. The same thing for question marks, no editor wants to see five question marks glaring at their face. One will suffice.

SIX: The use of colons and semi colons should be used in their proper place. Remember use a colon when logging articles of facts. The semi colon is to add an additional thought to a sentence. It’s not that difficult to remember.

SEVEN: I have come to like parentheses. I use them to set my thoughts separate from the sentence. But in writing a story, the off setting of words in parentheses is merely a distraction. Try your best NOT to use them.
ex. She wandered down the lonely street (I would have never gone down that road) and found herself lost.

EIGHT: Modifiers are another turn-off. No I’m not saying not to use them, I’m saying use them properly. Modifiers are essential in making the reader live with you in the moment. When over-used you run the risk of losing your reader and having them toss the book aside. Learn when they are to be used.

NINE: I’m against the over-use of the word AND. I see alot of new writer’s building a paragraph with over twenty ANDS, connecting sentences. I say finish the doggone sentence, conclude it so the reader or editor isn’t dragged through the mire of cleaning up all of those AND’s, BUT’s and OR’s

TEN: SPELLING SPELLING SPELLING! Did I say this one already? Well it needs to be said again. There is no excuse for your lack of spelling skills if you’re going to be a writer. I don’t mean a typo here and there, I mean the inability to check for the correct spelling of there and their, want or went, hair and hare.

Proofread your work! Make it sparkle and shine like the noon day sun. Then and only then can you consider yourself...a serious writer.

Put some punch in your Punctuation

Punctuation
Would you believe that writer’s, although they can write, are lousy at punctuation? I mean no harm here but they seem to try too hard by placing commas in places where periods go, or semi-colons where commas should go and all it would take is a little extra effort on their part to do some homework. (yes, this late in life, and *I’m* not exempt))

The wrong punctuation can throw an entire piece of writing off balance. Let’s take a look.

incorrect: I need your love to be everything for me will, you be my knight, in shining armor today would be a good day for you to show your face.

correct: I need your love to be everything for me. Will you be my knight in shining armor? Today would be a good day for you to show your face.

Some writers miss the mark all the way around. I don’t know if they think that it reads better, punctuation isn’t necessary, or that someone else will fix it for them. Well let me tell you folks, punctuation IS necessary if you ever plan on becoming a published author. Sure there are times that typo’s happen, hey, it happens. But when you are deliberately too lazy to look at your work, spelling and punctuation, then maybe you need to think yourself a hobbyist writer and not one serious about a craft.

I know a lot of people depend on their MS Word for a spell check but it being a program and not human, the robotic nature will not pick up the differences in there and their. It will not discern by from buy or want from went. It will give you a red squiggly line for incorrect spellings and your eyes may be drawn to THAT. In the process you may miss an error and let it slip through your eyes. MS Word will not find punctuation errors either. YOU need to do the work to make it comprehensible and legible to the reader.

Why is it that you want to become a writer? Because you have a quaint story to tell? In my opinion, who doesn’t have a story to tell? Everyone basically, but can they find the time to learn the skills that it will take to get their story from a mere thought to the glowing blank paper/screen?

The best thing to do as a writer is to get in the habit of proofreading your work BEFORE you click that little word, SEND. Know the rules, know the proper etiquette and by all means STUDY what you don’t know.

Punctuation Promises

Have you ever left out a comma in the wrong place,

Ever use and exclamation mark wrong!

Punctuation promises to bring our writing to a new level when used properly. So often I see people trying to use colons where semi-colons should be; quotation marks when no one is speaking, and periods where comma’s should be and vice-versa.

I try and tell them (the writer) to bring your cleanest work to the table and don’t hand me a piece where I need to line critique your work to bits. I am no grammar queen by any means, but I do try and bring my full knowledge into anything I’m going to post and have others look at for me.

Granted even the best of us make mistakes and sometimes it takes someone else's eyes to see something that we missed. I’m not talking about minor faux pas, I’m talking, “Where did you go to school at?” kind of work.

Grammar is easy for some of us, harder on others as many people live in different countries and English is their second or third language. I have to say this though, if you’re going to write for American magazines then you will need to hone the craft of the English grammar and punctuation.

Why let someone else do your work for you?

I think I’ll save all my line-by-line critiques for when I become an editor (read between the words here; when I start getting PAID to line crit.). But on the plus side, it has definitely been a learning experience. I have Writer’s Village University to thank for that.

Why am I telling all of you, my readers, this? Because I want you to tighten up your work! I want you to bring your best work forward. Do your homework on honing a skill, a craft, an art.

A semicolon is to join related independent clauses in a compound sentence.

Mary and Jody were on the team together; Jody was the better of the two players.

A colon may be used for many different things. Mainly listing items is a clue that you need a colon instead of a semicolon.

Mary and Jody were undecided which team to join: The Mavericks, The Beatles or the Birds.

Use question marks when ASKING a question. Exclamation marks when you want to add emphasis to a statement! A period when a statement ends.

I could go on and on with a grammar class here but for now, I’ll let you do your own homework and make use of the links to the left on grammar. They are there to help and assist you in becoming more educated in the field of writing.

So what are you waiting for?

Funday Monday!

Malapropisms abound -- Use and Misuse of the English Language

In writing, using the proper word from the English language is essential. (I’m assuming my readers are using the English version.) Understanding the meanings, pronunciations, and the proper spelling of words and phrases becomes a no-brainer to the avid writer.

awoken ~~~ wary ~~~ bored
awaken ~~~ weary ~~~ board
fined ~~~ who ~~~ decadence
find ~~~ whom ~~~ decadents
wander ~~~ soared ~~~ inane
wonder ~~~sword ~~~ insane
including words like, accept and except, allusion and illusion, council, counsel, affect, effect.

You get the picture? Words can be confusing not only to the eye but also to the ear AND on the Microsoft word page. You would think our spellcheckers pick up all of these little words we toss at it? Well it doesn’t. It is not THAT smart. It is not here to do our thinking, only to assist us along the way in getting our work correct.

There are many other words that I find my fellow writers seem to get confused with. It is my nature to be a spell freak. I mean it, if I spell a word wrong I am kicking myself in the butt then I sit with my dictionary and a cup of tea reviewing the English language yet again. (note: a typo is NOT a word spelled wrong!)

We can never fully comprehend all the meanings of every word in the English language but it is reasonable to understand and expect that writers will know of the words in which they write. So be insistent on learning new words. Be incessant, persistent, and exigent in learning and only then will your writing take off to new heights.

~~~Monday Funday Word Day~~~

malapropism ~ mal-a-prop-izm
1. Ludicrous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound.
2. An example of such misuse? "Lead the way and we'll precede."

verbiage ~
1. An excess of words for the purpose; wordiness.
2. The manner in which something is expressed in words: software verbiage.

altruistic ~ al-tru-is-tic
1. unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others.
2. Animal Behavior. of or pertaining to behavior by an animal that may be to its disadvantage but that benefits others of its kind, often its close relatives.