Why disinfect your desk? Covid-19, of course! Let’s recap CDC guidelines: wash your hands for twenty seconds in hot soapy water; Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth; Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash; Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. It’s this last one I want to bring to your attention today. Frequently Touched Objects Writers write. I hope you’re keeping your sanity during this Covid-19 craziness. We’ve all heard the recommendation to wash hands frequently. But think about all the things writers touch. The keyboard. Mouse. The stapler. Paper clips. Pens. Pencils. A stylus. Tablets, phones, remote controls.…
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How to Write a Thank You Note
We write thank you notes for gifts, exemplary service, and recognition. Most of us have dutifully written that thank you note or email to Aunt Nancy. Keep reading to find out what to include in your thank yous. Thank you Notes for Gifts What goes into a thoughtful thank you note? Always start with a greeting followed by naming the gift using a positive adjective and a specific detail which shows how you appreciate or how you will use the gift. Here are some examples: Dear Aunt Nancy, Thank you for the lovely flowers. They really brightened my day. Dear Aunt Nancy, Thank you for the birthday check. I will…
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Family Stories: Oral History to Written Record
Why write family stories? Family stories shape our impression of the world. Some cultures revere storytelling so much, they have designated storytellers–keepers of stories. The Icelanders have their Eddas, the Norse, their Sagas. In Western societies we have outsourced this position to TV and film makers. But there is something special about the cadence of words falling from the lips of someone who lived the tale. Listen No matter your age, ask your parents, your aunts, your uncles about their youth. If you are lucky enough to still have grandparents ask them to tell you their stories too. Someone said ‘every time an elder dies, a library burns down.’ In…
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Spelling is not a sign of Intelligence
While spelling is not a sign of intelligence, poor spelling can make a bad first impression. Some sounds like sh have multiple spellings. In today’s post I’ll review spelling rules for the sh sound. SH Here are the rules for using s-h to write the sh sound. Use s-h at the beginning of a word or at the end of a syllable. That’s it. Here are some examples: shadow, sheep, shingle, shop, shutter, trashcan, mesh, fishnet, slosh, gush. So, what do you do when the sound comes at the beginning of a syllable in the middle of a word? English is a very creative language with its twenty-six letters. One…
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Hard and Soft Sounds
As a kid I knew the letters ‘c’ and ‘g’ had hard and soft sounds. I just didn’t know there was a rule that would help me. My go-to word was garage. The first ‘g’ was followed by the letter ‘a’ and had a hard sound. The last ‘g’ was followed by an ‘e’ and had a soft sound. Today’s post will discuss spelling and pronunciation rules to help you pronounce new words and spell old ones. Hard C and G The most common sound for the letter ‘c’ is the hard sound. Cat, cost, cut, cry, Christmas, and clip all start with the hard ‘c’ sound. Maniac, titanic, and…
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Things That Fall From the Sky
Precipitation has a specialized vocabulary all its own. Generally speaking, precipitation includes rain, snow, and hail. But each of these has a range of words to describe them. Rain Rain falls from the sky as drops of water. It comes down hard, soft, heavy, and light. Rain has its own specialized vocabulary. It can mist, sprinkle, drizzle, or rain. A light rain is a shower. Heavier rainstorms come in downpours, cloudbursts and torrents. Rain paired with thunder is a thundershower, and is often accompanied by lightning. A rainfall with copious amounts of water is called a deluge and may lead to flash floods. In northern latitudes you may experience freezing…
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Suffixes: Word Endings
Suffixes are always added to the end of a word. We use them all the time to change a word’s meaning. Suffix categories are different than prefix categories. The four categories are: noun suffixes, adjective suffixes, verb suffixes, and adverb suffixes. Noun Suffixes Noun suffixes create a noun from a different part of speech. Generally speaking, nouns fall into these categories: person, place, or thing. Teach is a verb. Add the suffix /er/ and you have a person, a teacher. Bake is a verb. Add the suffix /ery/ and now you have a place, a bakery. Create is a verb. Add the suffix /tion/ and creation is a thing that…
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Prefixes Transform Words
Prefixes change a word’s meaning. Let’s look at different categories of prefixes. Some prefixes change a word to mean its opposite. Others change a word to indicate repetition. Still others refer to quantity or position in time, movement, size or are related to science or medicine in some way. Opposites One of the first prefixes I learned was un. It is probably the simplest way to change a word to its polar opposite. Comfortable becomes uncomfortable, believable becomes unbelievable. In fact, people will understand your meaning even when you use it to create words that don’t exist. I’m thinking of the words undead and uncool. Another common prefix for the…
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Vocabulary, Building Blocks for Writers
Vocabulary is a fancy term for the words you use. Since words are the writer’s building blocks it makes sense to build a large vocabulary. So how do you do it? Building Vocabulary Vocabulary can be specific to a profession, art form, or region. For instance, to a student, the word site will probably refer to a website, but to a biologist or archaeologist it will refer to a location. Medium to an artist is the material they use to make their art, but it can also be a psychic leading a seance, a size, or the way information is transmitted. And then of course, different regions have their own…
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Bring Intellectual Curiosity to Your Writing
I enjoyed the holidays with family. I hope your holidays were full of happy times with people you love. Here’s something to think about as you write in this new year. Intellectual curiosity withers in either or, black or white, up or down, left or right. It thrives on maybe, what if, but, and so, possibly and even though. Intellectual curiosity allows us to look through another’s lens. It forces us to consider viewpoints other than our own. When the world is presented as either or it puts blinders on the intellect. The world is not black and white. It is filled with a kaleidoscope of color. Media Landscape…
