The Half Year Book Report (#4)

January through June 2018 Toward the end of this six-month period, I decided to start including sentences I love from these books. When I can remember to write them down, that is. I used to do the Sunday Sentence on this blog, but now think it makes more sense to include those lines directly here. … Continue reading The Half Year Book Report (#4) →

Say What? Edition 6: Where Are All the Words?

Auxiliary verbs are falling out of favor. Particularly, to be. I've seen or heard all of the following lately: My car needs washed. My shoes need repaired. This couch needs gone this weekend. When did this form of speaking start? Does this sound normal to you? I'm itching to put to be in all of these sentences. And … Continue reading Say What? Edition 6: Where Are All the Words? →

You’ve Got Skills

And so do I. Our skills aren't they same, but they are equally valuable. This is what I'd like people I work with to understand. Part of being a technical writer or editor means being invisible and vastly underappreciated. We don't get a byline or an author credit anywhere. People often toss our creations aside, … Continue reading You’ve Got Skills →

Kill Your Illogical Darlings

Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings. - Arthur Quiller-Couch If you've taken a few writing classes, you've undoubtedly heard this piece of advice. I heard it many, many times, but didn't really grasp its application until … Continue reading Kill Your Illogical Darlings →

Struggles of the Wannabe Grammar Police

On my neighborhood Nextdoor site, I recently saw a post about a lost dog that was found. In response, one person wrote, "Glad this tale/tail has a happy ending." I started to roll my eyes at her seemingly unnecessary decision to clarify that she was making a pun, but then I stopped. The truth is, I … Continue reading Struggles of the Wannabe Grammar Police →

The Novel: DOA at DIA

The novel is no more. If the possible reason that first comes to your mind is that my co-author is no more either, you are correct. I ended my relationship with Ironman a little while back and with it, the collaboration on our novel. When we first starting seeing each other casually last May, I … Continue reading The Novel: DOA at DIA →

The Novel: The Real Writing…Doesn’t Begin

This was not a very productive month. We only wrote about 3,000 words total. Ironman was working full force on a side project and I, well, I have no excuse. I was in a massive slump from the time I got back from Spain until my birthday. I didn't feel like doing anything. I didn't … Continue reading The Novel: The Real Writing…Doesn’t Begin →

The Novel: Tough Topics

Progress continues, full steam ahead! We have written 31 total scenes now, and we started doing some compilation and review work. I've also been doing some more research and thinking in general about this book. Our book deals with some heavy themes, so I've been reading some of the most popular YA books from 2017 … Continue reading The Novel: Tough Topics →

The Novel: 16 Drafted Scenes

It has been one month since I posted about the New Year's resolution that happened to me, so it seems to be a good time for a status update. Posting about the novel and talking to people about it helps keep me accountable and working on it, though my co-author is also doing a really … Continue reading The Novel: 16 Drafted Scenes →

The Novel: New Year, New Project

I didn't choose a New Year's resolution, but a resolution chose me. I'm coauthoring a YA novel. This is an unexpected turn brought about in part by reading No Country for Old Men and by a personal and highly controversial project Ironman was working on. No, none of that is supposed to make sense to … Continue reading The Novel: New Year, New Project →