Gen. 1: 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
***

When in doubt, write it out. Hey, that’s mine. *smile*

I always like to write what I’m feeling. I know many of you have a journal that you write in and keep daily tabs on what you’re doing or going through, right?

Journals are important because they walk you through your day- to- day boredom, I mean life, and can get you through some tough times. I’ve had a journal ever since I can remember and still have most of them too, just so I can look back at where I was, where I wanted to go, and where I wound up.

Not always a pleasing sight those journals. The outside covers were beautiful tapestry, but inside on the lined pages is ugly reality. No one ever said reality was appealing, I guess that’s why they dress journals up to look real pretty.

Did you ever notice, or maybe it’s just me, that in your journal, you often write the bad tortuous stuff, and as the book fills out there seems to be more grotesque looking images than beauty? How many of us write every day, just to say, today was a gorgeous uneventful day?

We write about storms sweeping over our houses, but not the blossoms surrounding us. We’ll dictate a happy event with family that we don't live with, but skip the the menial dinner you had with your family at home. We’re unlike the media, in that we decorate our journal with the wrinkled lines of everyone’s face, and never divulge the airbrushed version.

Yesterday as I sat in church, things whipped me in my face and had me scrunching up my nose. Pastor Mike talked about the sanctity of SEX in marriage. Oh dear, a minister speaking about sex? I know a lot of the old timers are thinking, “How could he!” And in his defense, I’ll say, “Very easily.”

God didn’t place Adam and Eve, a man and woman, here on earth, to just look at each other. They were told to go forth and multiply and well, sorry folks, there is only one way to do that. Through the sanctity of marriage, you bring forth fruit.

I respect the man because he took on a difficult subject that, had ministers had the nerve and guts to really do the Lords work, would have delivered the message years ago possibly saving our promiscuous society from a darkened downfall.

He did something I’ve never seen done. He didn’t hide the word SEX, he didn’t cover it up with, “Shhh...we don’t talk about those things.” Instead, he took it head on and gave us a sermon on the WORD! What the BIBLE says about Marriage, SEX, and Singleness.

He didn’t give us an airbrushed version of reality. He didn’t put a dainty little cover around the subject and call it, The Talk. He took a page instead out of God’s journal to US! All of the good and the bad and delivered them to us, with, what else, GRACE!

Moody Monday

2 Sam. 22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
***

Ever have one of those days where you just roll over in bed and don’t feel like waking up and facing the day? Have you ever had a Moody Monday? Well some might say that every day is a moody Monday for me, but I do digress.

I wake up in the still of the morning when the birds are all tucked away. As I sit here and await the sunrise, I drink my morning coffee and relish the quiet time I have. The birds begin stirring, chirping can be heard, then it happens, the orb in the sky peeks over the trees blanketing the farm with orange light.

Today ghostly shadows stood erect as the sun began its ascent. Fog covered the entire farm and out of the shadows came soldiers marching to war in silence. Ok, they were just barns, but when you’re only half awake, I’m telling you, they sure look like ominous men of war.

I’ve been feeling pretty good lately. No fears with driving. I made it into church yesterday with nary a tremble. It was raining and although at first I thought, “I don’t want to drive in the rain, I’m scared of the slippery roads.”  I was God slapped! He said, “Don’t you trust me?”

“Well, yes I do!” And all fears drifted off somewhere, I imagine to his shoulder so he could carry the fear for me, then off to church we went! :) There was no Pastor Mike this time and we had to settle for the youth minister because apparently, this weekend was graduation weekend. So the service was dedicated to the youth of society. Remind me to tell you about this wonderful church, someday.

My dad is feeling pretty good, and he is back to being his ol ornery self. Things should be feeling pretty good to me but something is missing. I have God in my life, a roof over my head, food to eat, a healthy son, a man whom I think loves me, what more could anyone want?

Oh, I know, passion. I’ve been writing, reading, critting, all good things right? But I feel passionless towards things. Today I woke up and just felt ‘blech’. I think I know what I need to do, June’s words are always reverberating in my head. “Prioritize,” she whispers, “Organize,” she rants, “Set goals,” she hails; a bombardment of voices I tell ya!

June might say, “That’s a good thing if I have that kind of impact.” Well June, you do dagnammit! lol So now today I need focus. If only the sun would stop looking so beautiful, the trees would just sit still and allow me to gaze at their beauty, if the birds, the glorious birds, new and old alike, would stop for a minute and let me get a picture of them at play.

If the weather, the mean, unknown weather would comply, I might just have a Marvelous Monday!

Manic Monday

It’s just another manic Monday.

You know, Monday is the day of the week you wake up and realize it’s not the weekend and you must face another week of work. My work consist of writing, teaching,cleaning, washing, folding, scrubbing,vacuuming, cooking, raking, and that is just the beginning.

That is why I say it is a manic Monday because the whole week begins again with the notion, “What’s on the agenda for this week?”

On my blog my work is lessons of the written word, or spoken word, or just Thee Word.We’ve come a long way in learning the proper etiquette in writing. You know some people strive at the craft for years and never get anywhere, when some people who don’t even aspire to write, get published?

It’s not a freak of nature my friends, really. It’s a blessing.

On manic Monday my post must remain short so I can get to the gazillion other things that I must get to.

First on my lesson for the week is the period! No not the monthly type, the period at the end of a sentence. Okay maybe it isn’t even the period or other punctuation, it’s space, not outer space mind you, it’s the space after the period.

I was taught that on the written page, one space after the period is sufficient but last night I had a discussion where someone else was taught that two spaces were sufficient. This led me to wonder what is correct in the writer’s world. I sure wish June would pop in because I consider her to be a grammar pro and a very reliable source of information.

Anyway, this is what I’ve found on the subject. One versus two is a place where the discussion was mainly about on the web page spacing then it turns into an English grammar lesson. He said to “use as you wish” the info on his page, so here is the gist of the discussion.

Kathy Gill told him that the current typographic standard for a single space after the period is a reflection of the power of proportionally spaced fonts.

"The only reason that two spaces were used after a period during the 'typewriter' age was because original typewriters had monospaced fonts -- the extra space was needed for the eye to pick up on the beginning of a new sentence. That need is negated w/proportional space type, hence [it is] the typographic standard."

The design and Publishing Center went on to say:

"In the days of typewriter manuscripts the extra space was necessary to separate the ends and beginnings of sentences. The space character never changed. With the advent of electronic typesetting, the software attempts to 'fit' the type to specific line lengths, it both expands or contracts the available space to make the type fit. Word spacing is where most of this space 'play' takes place."

and they went on:

"With two spaces, there is 'more' space to play with, and if space is added (which is most often the case) the results are white spots, and in some cases "rivers" of blank spots in the body of text. This makes the body both unattractive as a visual element, and distracting to read."

Now it’s your turn writing friends. Which is proper? I know what my editor friends will say, “one space”. But I want my grammar friends to tell me what is right!

Deep sigh here...I will continue to dig this one six feet into the ground until I find something concrete that I can give you!

But for now I must go. Autumn beauty awaits as manic Monday beckons me.

Breaking Rules

Breaking Rules.

I think it is cute when I see a toddler walking over to the cupboard door and trying to open it when he knows he isn’t supposed to. That is what toddlers do. Most moms are one-up on them though and have placed safety locks on the doors. This is when the tantrum begins because toddler kid can’t get his way.

Writers are not toddlers by any means, but they do need someone to tell them, "Hey that’s not the right way to do that." Or maybe, "Could you try it this way?" The writer doesn’t lose his/her temper they just drink in the gained knowledge and move on. Lesson learned.

Newcomers to the field of writing think it is cute to break the rules. They prance around with the, "I can do what I want" attitude. Then as soon as someone corrects them, they run for the hills to bury their head deep in the soil.

Writers need to be tough. A thick-skinned writer is like a desert lizard, they can take the heat all the while bathing in it too! Just remember that you are not a toddler and that you will continually need to learn and take big sips of the cup of knowledge. Place your hand out into the open air, letting someone grab hold of it as if to guide you.

Never fear criticism, never fear writing, always embrace the tree of life. It might have splinters but you’ve learned a great deal and will carry the experience with you a lifetime.

Today’s words:

dalliance (dah-lee-uh ns)
1. to dawdle
2. amorous toying: flirtation

halcyon (hal-see-uhn)
1. calm; peaceful; tranquil:
2. rich; wealthy; prosperous:
3. happy; joyful; carefree

miscreant (mis-cree-uh nt)
1. a disbeliever; heretic
2. villain

prevaricate (pri-var-i-cayt)
1. to speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie.

rectitude (rek-ti-tood)
1. rightness of principle or conduct; moral virtue: the rectitude of her motives.
2. righteous

Funday Monday!

Picking a title

Picking a title for your story is almost as hard as writing it (notice I said almost.) The title needs to grab the reader and have him/her scratching their heads wanting to read the inner circle of words that is making this story so compelling that it has the quirky title that it bears.

Short titles with a slant work well. I mean how many people read To Kill a Mockingbird only to find out it wasn’t about mockingbirds? But the title grabbed you enough to pick it up right? Do you judge a book by its cover? Of course you do, that is another reason you picked it up. Let’s try to aim for four to six words with your title.

Go to your local bookstore or library and look at the titles that grab you. Pull the book out and examine the cover. It will help if you are looking in the genre in which you yourself are writing. Sometimes titles in a cookbook aisle will feed the title for your mystery. "Dice it and Slice it" would be a quirky murder mystery title found after searching through the cookbook titles.

Keeping the buyer in mind and what your reader is looking for will help you in picking just the right title too. Make your reader a part of the title. Knowing the type of gal or guy that you are targeting will help in defining the perfect title. A romance wouldn’t need a title like "Fire Bomber" maybe "Pop Tart" for the elusive flirty woman in the romance? The secret woman within all of us perhaps? "Loose Lips, Lose Lovers". Ahh, the ever lovely alliteration for a title. It must be the poet in me who likes this one.

Whatever the case may be, choose a title wisely. Make it short and sweet, with the ability to roll right off the readers tongue making them want to see what is lurking inside that they MUST read!

Funday Monday Word day ~

felicitate ~ [fi-lis-i-teyt]
1. to compliment upon a happy event; congratulate.
2. Archaic. to make happy.

doggerel ~ [daw –gruhl]
comic or burlesque, and usually loose or irregular in measure.
rude; crude; poor.

gadfly ~ [gad-flahy]
1. any of various flies, as a stable fly or warble fly, that bite or annoy domestic animals.
2. a person who persistently annoys or provokes others with criticism, schemes, ideas, demands, requests, etc.

rhetoric ~ [ret-er-ik]

1. (in writing or speech) the undue use of exaggeration or display;
2. the art or science of all specialized literary uses of language in prose or verse, including the figures of speech.
3. the study of the effective use of language.

Funday Monday~Vulgarity

Vulgarity ~

Should we use vulgarity in our writing? Only if it suits the character you are writing for. I see many authors who like to use it like spilt milk, they’re all over the place with it. But I ask you this, does it really enhance the story?

Stephen King says in his book On Writing, don’t skirt around the talk just because it isn’t in you, the writer, to use foul language. Remember this is a character and if a gun-toting butt kicker comes into a bar and he is in the middle of starting a gang war, would he ask if he could use the bathroom to take a pee? No, he’d sure enough use the vulgar term and say, "Where’s the shithouse, I need to piss!"

I’ve read tons of Dean Koontz books and I am hard pressed to find a vulgar word even with his tough characters. It doesn’t take away from the character, Mr. Koontz I assume, finds it an unnecessary way to move the story forward. Don’t get me wrong, he has used vulgar words when they ARE necessary but they don’t absorb his book like a sponge in water. He is very adamant about writing his story with the respect of the reader in mind. Does he sell top-sellers? Repeatedly!

The choice is yours as the author to where you want to take your novel or short story. Keep in mind your reader though because they will be the ones who either like or dislike what you are writing and they are the ones who will PAY to read you.

Today’s Funday Monday Words:

vulgar ~
1. characterized by ignorance of or lack of good breeding or taste: vulgar ostentation.
2. indecent; obscene; lewd: a vulgar work; a vulgar gesture.
3. spoken by, or being in the language spoken by, the people generally; vernacular: vulgar tongue.
4. lacking in distinction, aesthetic value, or charm; banal; ordinary: a vulgar painting.

banal ~ commonplace; tired or petty

profane ~
1. characterized by irreverence or contempt for God or sacred principles or things; irreligious.
2. not devoted to holy or religious purposes; unconsecrated; secular
3. to treat (anything sacred) with irreverence or contempt; violate the sanctity of: to profane a shrine.
4. to misuse (anything that should be held in reverence or respect); defile; debase; employ basely or unworthily.

obscene ~
1. offensive to morality or decency; indecent; depraved: obscene language.
2. causing uncontrolled sexual desire.
3. abominable; disgusting; repulsive.

vernacular ~
1. (of language) native or indigenous
2. expressed or written in the native language of a place, as literary works: a vernacular poem.
3. using plain, everyday, ordinary language.

Funday Monday

Alliteration ~ The repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words.

Alliteration can be a fun form of free-form writing. Fanatical and in a frenzy of thought, thinkers normally noisily tap on the keys to make a monstrous sound. Creating a conundrum of calamity in their wake, the writer wriggles words of the same sound onto the page before them.
Poets use alliteration to make their words sound fluid. Writers use them in prose to make their words flow effortlessly off the page.

Wordsworth wrote: And sings a solitary song
------------------->That whistles in the wind.

Tennyson wrote: The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
---------------> And murmuring of innumerable bees.

Joni wrote: Bellflower bluebells basks in the meadow.
---------> Thorny thistles lie in the ghetto.

(remind me to share the entire poem The Secret Garden with you. It is full of alliteration AND meaning.)

Some might deem alliteration a tongue twister but I personally feel that alliteration has more to offer than the old saying, Sally sells seashells by the seashore. We’re talking a mild flow of repetition, not an annoying anomaly. When used in writing the writer has a tide of thought behind his/her skill of the written word. Use alliteration sparingly and watch normal words turn into poetic prose.

From Joni’s work:
I try to be all I can be
Sometimes more than I should
Should I be less than I could?
Or could I be what I should?

a-nom-a-ly ~
1. a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form.
2. an incongruity or inconsistency.
tongue twister ~
a phrase or sentence that is hard to say fast, usually because of alliteration or a sequence of nearly similar sounds

prose ~
The ordinary form of written or spoken language, without rhyme or meter; speech or writing, sometimes, specif., non-fictional writing, that is not poetry
id-i-om ~
1. the language or dialect of a people, region, class, etc.
2. a phrase, construction, or expression that is recognized as a unit in the usage of a given language and either differs from the usual syntactic patterns or has a meaning that differs from the literal meaning of its parts taken together (Ex.: not a word did she say; she heard it straight from the horse's mouth)

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.