I have grammar and editing on the brain as I celebrate the latest graduates of the Edit Like an Expert program, which is why Mary Norris's Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen caught my eye. With chapter titles like “Spelling Is for Weirdos,” Norris, longtime copy editor for The New Yorker, writes about life and language,…
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We all know looking at a large project from the starting line can be daunting. The road ahead looks long and difficult, filled with potholes, detours, and dead ends. Getting started writing your life story can feel like that, but it…
The new year has rolled around, and maybe you have a list of goals you’d like to accomplish in 2016. Great! If you’re like most people, that list includes a few items carried over from last year that didn’t quite materialize. Life happens.
Is writing your life story on that list? Maybe last year you took…
That is one of the most often used words in the English language and one of the most versatile. It can be a pronoun (That is my belt.), an adjective (That book is my favorite.), an adverb (The worm is about that long.), and a conjunction (I was so tired that I fell asleep standing…
Now that the turkey is nothing but bones, let's celebrate Cyber Monday! Oh wait, today's not Monday. What the heck? Let's call it Monday with a great deal on five-year journals!
From now through Monday, November 30th at midnight, five-year journals are only $25.99; that's $10 less than the retail price of the same journal on Amazon.com.…
You wrote a great story. You described the characters, set the stage, electrified the events, accomplished all the tasks you know are necessary to make your manuscript shine. But what about those annoying mistakes that hide in your blind spots? How do you eliminate unconscious habits that leak the life out of your brilliant stories?
I'll…
Do you want to stop talking about writing your life story and actually start doing it? Then read on.
Many people have had great success in writing thousands and thousands of words in the Finish My Book in 90 Days coaching program, but just the idea of attempting a first draft of a book in three…
Elsie Doherty
One Step at a Time
by Elsie Doherty
On an early Saturday morning in 1964, six Peace Corps volunteers; Betty, Fay, Dave, Dick, Jim and I, stationed in various parishes of Jamaica gathered at a meeting point in Kingston to join Don, a Canadian with the Bank of Canada and Bruno, a French artist…
Jim Doherty
Bats Under My Seat
By James G. Doherty
"Rudal, come looking for me if I'm not back in two or three hours."
"Yes Mr. Jim. Sure Mr. Jim."
My guide,Rudal, was waiting for my return outside the hole I had crawled through. Climbing down rock ledges, and picking my way past seemingly bottomless black holes…
Robin Ogilvie
Puppy Dog Tales
By Robin Ogilvie
Just how far can yarn stretch before it breaks? Terry the Twoth’s second litter nearly found out. They were adorable two-month-old Great Dane pups, four of them, and, as it turned out, just the right number. Have you ever seen four puppies plot evil? Well, I did that…