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…
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The Writer’s Toolbox
An analogy is a comparison used to explain something. The simplest form of analogy takes this format: word is to sentence as chapter is to book. You may have seen it expressed this way Word : sentence :: chapter : book This comparison is easy to understand because we are familiar with words in sentences, and chapters in books. Analogy Teachers often use analogies to explain complex concepts or procedures. A kindergarten teacher may compare the United States to a school building, explaining that each state is like a classroom. Every classroom has a teacher with a set of classroom rules, while states have governors and laws specific to their…
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Hoof Print in the Snow
If only I could focus reader attention the way my dog focuses on tracking a deer through the snow. Wait, maybe I can! Remove Distractions Snow blanketed the ground nearly a week ago, masking the usual smells that Dusty loves to sniff on our daily walks. Shrubs marked by other dogs, clumps of native grass flattened by sleeping deer, and bird nests of ground dwelling quail were all buried by inches of snow. So instead of stopping at every bush, tree, and possible ground nest to satisfy her olfactory senses, Dusty has taken to shoving her nose in each hoof print she passes, breathing in what I imagine is the…
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Fifty Thousand Words
Here it is the final day of NaNoWriMo and I’m a few words short of the fifty thousand word goal. Did you see what I did there? Fifty thousand is two words and 50,000 counts as one! Bumps in the Road I’ve been plugging away on my novel and even earned my 25 day badge for writing twenty five days in a row. (see picture above) But on day twenty seven I ran into a few bumps. There were the five hours spent shoveling after a snowstorm, then a holiday, followed by an unexpected family crisis (they’re always unexpected, aren’t they?), and a car stuck in the snow! Playing Catch…
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Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the blessings in our lives. In today’s post I want to focus on family, friends, and purpose. Family Family shapes us in so many ways. I am the youngest of three children. Both parents were college educated. Dad grew up an only child and followed his father into the family business after he contracted polio which put an end to his dreams of working outdoors in the forestry industry. Mom married young, had a son and was a widow by the age of 20. She attended college, received her teaching certificate and supported herself and young son on a teacher’s salary until she…
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Facts and Opinions
Facts are true for everyone. Grass is green. The sun is hot. Waltzes are in three quarter time. Lemons are sour. Skunks are smelly. Opinions are true for those who hold them. Grass is beautiful. Sunny days are cheerful. Waltzes are boring. Lemons make the best pie. Skunks are my favorite animal. Facts are irrefutable tidbits of information readily confirmed by multiple sources. Opinions are personal perceptions. Why does this Matter? With hundreds of media outlets, each catering to a specific audience, the line blurs between fact and opinion. So what does this mean? Back in the 1970s there were three broadcast networks. Everyone received the same factual reporting regardless…
