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Essential Prose
Madness, Genius, and the Things We Don’t See
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. [Albert Einstein] I'm not trying to call anyone out on mediocrity of the mind here. I've just been thinking about how easy it is to pursue mediocrity if we don't ask what's possible. If we don't open the door to...
On the Universe, and the Small Things
I recently read Brian Swimme's article, "The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos." In it, he describes how past societies made a point to celebrate the mysteries and wonder of the universe, as a way of exploring the meaning of our existence. In contrast, he explains, modern society has pushed such...
I had a dentist appointment today for my yearly cleaning. I went to a new dentist, and I went with pretty neutral expectations — after all, despite having never had a cavity, I've never found a dental cleaning to be a particularly uplifting experience (although I quite enjoyed getting a...
As a birthday present, I'm creating a website for my mom (a.k.a Mama Lisa). She's really excited to have an online home, but unsure of what she wants that home to look like. A living room for close friends to hang out? A study that reveals all her projects and...
"I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak."...
On Focus, and the Influence of Saturn
I find it pretty tough to avoid the process of reflection at this time of year. As much as the transition into a new year may feel like an arbitrary measure of time, the urge to reflect upon the past and envision a future seems to seep in from all...
Laura Tamayo's Blogs
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This is the look....
This is where we keep our awesome Spanish Projects. We hope you like them! Drew & Pierce...
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Writer, Linguist, and Yogini....
life-story-writing at Yahoo! Groups
THE OLD PATHS - Thelly Thoughts (Music - Beautiful Piano)
To All: This poem should give you many ideas to write about. I sent it out to my Thelly Thoughts list this morning...Enjoy! If you don't write about the old...
Thelly, the Storylady, Cardiff by the Sea For a virtual visit go to http://www.lifestorywriting.net/ Join the fun at...
... Subject: Fw: GIGGLES!!! Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:47:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Garry White To: 3aknelson@... ,...
Fads of the Forties by Thelly Reahm
Here's an example of how I handled the Fads of The Forties...it doesn't have to be done this way, capture the memories any way you like...but DO IT! Fads of...
For the OTD Gang Two performances - 50 years apart!
Brings back memories! Have you written stories about the music groups you loved to hear or dance to? If you don't...who will! Here's a special memory, back to...
Peace to each manly soul that sleepeth; Rest to each faithful eye that weepeth... ~Thomas Moore "Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time,...
Academia-Research blog everything about how to write a good paper.
Online Opportunities: Job as a Writer
Would you like to change your future for the better? We all want to earn a decent amount of money for a living. Therefore, we try to look for the best opportunities that will give us the lifestyle that we want. If you want to become a writer on the...
Using Your Skills for Online Freelance Writing
How will you fare in this world where everyone else is looking for the same good job? If you are not really familiar with the things that you need to know to get online jobs, then this article is for you. Suddenly, there is an increase in availability of online...
You have been searching for an online job but you are actually failing to get the best one. Why is this so? Well you need to identify your core competency that will help you earn a living online. Nowadays, online jobs have become a word of mouth among internet users....
Getting You First Business Writing Jobs
Are you looking for the best and lucrative business writing jobs? You should not look any further because we can give them to you. If you are a business graduate or if you know something about business, then you can apply to become one of our writers. We are offering...
Many jobs for writers can now be found on the internet. As usual, you need to use a search engine in order to find what you are looking for. But actually this is a big improvement in terms of job hunting. You can now find many jobs for writers online...
Online Jobs for You: Becoming a Freelance Writer
If this is your first time to search for freelance writing jobs, we will offer you a great position in our company. Well, it may not be an actual job right away because you need to pass the exam and evaluation in order for you to get a freelance writer...
National Novel Writing Month - Home
Six days left for a proof copy (and other trivia of questionable relevance)
It’s June 24! Do you know what that means? Well, it means a lot of things. It’s Thursday. It’s been 346 years since the founding of the colony of New Jersey and 130 years since the first-ever performance of “O Canada.” It’s Mercedes Lackey’s birthday. It’s 130 days until NaNoWriMo...
"Every student who won brought a copy of their winner's certificate and we plastered the boards with them. We had streamers, balloons, music, and a pile of manuscripts over six inches thick." I decided to write a novel alongside my students as they participated in the YWP in 2009. Writing alongside...
The Summer of Social Networking
Here at the office, we’re spending our summer months catching up to the rest of the modern world and their newfangled technologies. This week, Chris, Tavia and I had our first encounter with this cool thing called Skype. We used it to interview long-distance applicants for the YWP and Community...
Last week, I posted the news about Tavia moving to full-time Operations Manager, which means we're on the hunt for a new Young Writers Program Director. I'm excited to announce that we're also looking for a full-time Community Liaison. This is part of a long-standing plan that has me moving to...
"Lucky me—I got to be on NPR, thus fulfilling one of my lifelong intellectual pipe dreams. And with the esteemed Mr. Baty, no less." Back in 2006, I was frantically trying to reach my 50,000-word quota for NaNoWriMo, certain I wasn't going to make it since I'd lagged behind at...
Backstage at the new Office of Letters and Light
Join Sarah the intern on a tour of the new OLL digs!...
nick usborne's blog
The people who signed up on the day I launched Web Content Café were the brave ones. They had to take it on trust that I would deliver useful web content ideas, every morning, five days a week. It’s a much easier choice today. You still get a fresh idea...
3 Web content ideas? 10? What is that – a free sample?
Recently I have been coming across more and more articles and blog posts which list web content ideas. The trouble is, they are all making the same few suggestions. Create a list. Write a book review. Add charts. Get a guest author. They are all fine suggestions. But these articles...
A great example of how to use Web Content Café Membership...
Some members grab onto an idea or two a week for a new page for their website. But here's an example of someone who is getting great value from her membership by acting on just about every content idea I publish! "I wake up at 7 am each morning, pour...
27 Web content ideas so far - and the next one coming at 6:45AM EST tomorrow.
At web Content Café I add a new web content idea every day, five days a week. That means you can sit down each morning and find the inspiration to write a new page for your website. - Some of the daily post link to tools you can use to...
How to get your boss to pay for your Web Content Café Membership.
How to get your boss to pay for your Web Content Café Membership. View more presentations from webcontentcafe. Learn how Web Content Café membership can help you and/or your company with content marketing ideas and best practices......
Web Content Café -- 20 Great web content ideas, and rising daily.
My new Web Content Café site has been up for almost three weeks now, and as of today there are 20 web content ideas posted. Plus, over the last week alone, 5 new content best practices articles have been added to the dozens of articles already on the site. In...
Amy Sue Nathan
Jen Lancaster’s “My Fair Lazy” Book Signing
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Mom meets grill - asparagus love
My summer love is asparagus on the grill. Except for the fact that it can fall right through the grates and makes your pee stink — it’s perfect. You can eat it hot, right-off-the-grill or room temperature (delish!) and cold the next day. I always make two bunches...
Mom meets grill - sweet potato fail
My sweet potato wedges met the grill and the grill won. I make mean baked sweet potato wedges in the oven, so of course I assumed my magic would transfer to the grill. Not. so. much. I’ll try again another day. Last night, the healthy carb accompaniment to our grilled...
Mom meets grill - grill meets potatoes
Not po-TAT-o. Po-TATE-o. Now that that’s out of the way, allow me to introduce you to my new favorite, edible oxymoron. Grilled fries. Grilled fries are officially the spring and summer version of one of my other favorite oxymorons: baked fries. The main ingredient to make these right is not...
I had planned an after school outing with my daughter so I knew dinner would be take-out/bring-in/eat-out so to stay in the grilling groove I grilled for lunch. Just for me! Who knew you could grill for one? Okay, I’ve done it before. It’s indulgent, true, but sometimes you gotta...
This post has been simmering for a while now. It’s not about writing and it’s not about editing or parenting. I know, I know. You guessed it. I’m a rebel with Weber. It’s a discontinued Weber Silver gas grill so you barbecue purists may abhor me, but it’s what I like. Just...
AllisonNazarian.com: Writer, Writing, Writest
Some of us, myself included, use the phrase “forever” a lot. BFF (Best Friends Forever) I have known him FOREVER I’ll love you forever This time, it’s forever And of course in popular song lyrics (“Forever’s gonna start tonight” comes to mind. So many others, of course.) Forever is kind...
One of the questions I’ve been thinking about lately is this one: Is there such a thing as being too nice? For those of you with little patience and/or who want to know the answer right away here it is: Yes. Yes, there is such a thing as being too...
When Did Simple Become So Complicated?
This is going to be short and sweet. Simple. Because simple is good — supposedly. Uncomplicated — supposedly. Right? Simple is, well, simple. Yet, for me at least, simple seems to take thought and planning and forethought and has pre-requisites and requirements. And, thus, simple becomes, well, complicated. I say...
Freshman year of college, I took Psych 101. I remember one thing from the course. Just one. And it was this: Abnormality is “the absence of normality.” (Full Disclosure: I got a “C” in this course. I am not kidding.) In other words, you are abnormal if you are not,...
When I was little, I spent lots of time in the back seat of my mom’s Caddy. She’d be playing the soundtrack from “Grease” or “Chorus Line” (I think we were still on 8-tracks) and I would inevitably have my nose buried in a book, for the most part oblivious...
In the midst of some pretty big and mostly uncontrollable things happening in my life and in the lives of some of the people I love, I’ve been thinking lots about what’s important and what matters. Of course, good health, great friends, lots of laughs, meaningful work – all of...
The Heart and Craft of Life Writing
After four hundred posts on this blog, I need a break. I'm "going to the beach," figuratively if not literally, until mid-June. While I'm away, I invite you to browse through the archives. There is something here for anyone. Use the search field at the very top left corner to...
In my last post, I mentioned best-selling author Tawni O’Dell’s observation that reading is the best way to improve your writing. In line with that advice, I read piles of memoirs. I recently read two memoirs written by authors three decades younger than I, and at first I found them...
News Flash: I'm honored to a guest blogger today on my good blogger buddy Karen Walker's Following the Whispers blog. Click over and pay her a visit. Yesterday I drove thirty miles to hear Tawni O'Dell speak at Westmoreland Community College. Tawni's first published novel, Back Roads, was an Oprah...
My Grandmother Clara was known far and wide for her fabulous white cakes. During a visit one summer while I was in my mid-teens, she showed me her secrets. One of them was to sift the flour not once, but seven times. She always used Pillsbury’s Best flour — though...
Working With a Writing Coach -- Guest Post by Karen Walker
When I read something on Karen Walker's Following the Whispers blog a couple of weeks ago about working with her writing coach, Mark David Gerson, Since I also do coaching, I was curious about her experience working with someone else, and thought readers also would be. I asked Karen if...
A Funny Things Happened on the Way to My Blog
Photo by FakelvisI’m ready to write. My file is open, my fingers poised. But wait, I see the e-mail icon. I’m a dog and the bell just rang — watch me drool. I click to e-mail. Ah, it’s a good thing I did. That download I want to listen to...
Writing-and-Speaking Articles from EzineArticles.com
10 Reasons Why You Should Write Articles
Are you thinking about writing articles? Do you want to be a professional writer or are you looking to earn a part time income online?...
Suggestions on How to Become a Successful Writer
The essay is an area that is frustrating to many students. The poor grade from these is a real challenge if you must get good grade to keep academic scholarships. So whats a person to do?...
Commitment - The Only Way to Get Your Book DONE!
Millions of people want to write a book. However, less than 10 percent of them actually accomplish that goal. The reason, I'm willing to bet, is that the other 90 percent of aspiring authors are not truly committed to the project, and so they never get it done. Are you...
Construction of sentences have strict rules that one needs to follow. They are commonly called as "English errors" but they are not necessarily errors, surely you'll be able to defy some of these rules because it only makes your sentences informal....
Write Content That Lasts Forever
If only it were that easy. Here are three possible ways of doing it....
When Or Where Do Editors Care?
As a child I played sports and loved basketball. In high school, I hated when first cuts took place. This was when the not-so talented were weeded out from the actual players....
About.com Fiction Writing
Highlights of the 2009-2010 Writing Challenges
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Reader Comment: My Parents Don't Approve
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What Have You Lost? Writing Prompt
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July 2010 Contest/Fellowship Deadlines
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There Are No Rules
An Exciting Future for Authors (That Can Succeed Without Publishers or Agents)
Normally this kind of post would go under my new series about entrepreneurial tools. But Kickstarter feels too important to be considered just a tool—and you may have already heard about its bright future through mainstream media (NPR, New York Times, Wired). First, to summarize where we find ourselves in the current publishing environment: It's tougher for...
Agents Won't Survive Just By Charging a Higher Commission
Last year, I wrote a piece in Writer's Digest (September 2009) about the future role of agents. I had three key points: Agents need to innovate on contracts to keep themselves, as well as their authors, alive through the transition. Richard Nash has the right thinking in this area. Agents need to partner and focus on...
New Tools for Entrepreneurial Writers
This post kicks off a series: New Tools for Entrepreneurial Writers. Often I talk to writers about following changes in technology and how people interact online—since it's always in flux. Through this series, I hope to point you to specific tools I've seen that are ripe with opportunity for creative & entrepreneurial writers. The...
Why I Don't Care About Grammar (and Why You Should Stop Worrying)
I was probably the only student in my 8th grade class to look forward to English period, and copying down grammar lessons. My English teacher, Mrs. McKinney, was methodical, strict, and exact about every aspect of the language. She told us exactly how to copy down the lessons, and what kind of paper...
Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their April Family Matters competition. This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers for stories about family. Word count should not exceed 12,000. (All shorter lengths welcome.) The next Family Matters competition will take place in October. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar...
Summer Writing Events: Meet Me & Get Advice on Your Career
This summer I'm speaking to writers in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and California. I hope to meet you at one of these events. For a full schedule of where I'm speaking through 2011—and to request me to speak for your group—click here. Tomorrow! Evansville, Indiana (June 19), FREE! I'll be at the Red Bank library in...
BenCrowder.net
My life often feels like a series of endless interruptions snatching at my mind, pulling it like taffy in a dozen different directions. It’s enough to drive a man crazy. In fact, I do feel a little crazy when it’s happening — just a tad insane, out of my mind,...
In the thoroughly disturbing department: Court Says It’s Okay To Remove Content From The Public Domain And Put It Back Under Copyright. That’s right, they’re not only trying to stop adding to the public domain, they’re now actively attempting to shrink it. Sanity, where have you gone? The more copyright...
Time for a new look. Lately I’ve been itching to focus this site back on the blog and start doing some longform writing, so this new redesign puts the blog back on the front page and makes it more reading-friendly. Before After I’ve also gotten rid of the mullet. (No,...
As of today, I'm disabling comments on this site. I did this briefly a while ago, but this time it's for real....
Pearl of Great Price reader’s edition
Following in the footsteps of my reader's editions of the Book of Mormon and D&C, here's that reader's edition of the Pearl of Great Price I mentioned earlier today....
An itch scratched: md2epub, a Python script for making an ePub out of Markdown files....
Bad Language
What are the most common words?
A reader’s request sparked my curiosity. He wanted to know the top 1,000 most common words in the English language. I don’t know but I bet there’s a list out there somewhere and that one of you knows where it is. Please help. Related posts:Kindle and Stanza: great ways for...
Writing blog from the Economist
From the Definitely Worth Subscribing department comes The Economist’s Johnson blog which resurrects the column of the same name that used to appear in the magazine. It’s what Bad Language wants to be when it grows up. Related posts:Kindle and Stanza: great ways for writers to read more Web, video...
Lost in translation: lessons in proofreading
According to the BBC, the English on this sign is clear enough but the Welsh reads "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated." Related posts:17 creative iPhone apps for writers and designers Writing tools: a good laptop Writing tools: MindManager 8 Related posts:17 creative iPhone apps...
For just a couple of days, you can play a Google-ised Pac-Man in your browser simply by going to Google.com and clicking ‘Insert Coin.’ It’s written in JavaScript and is a pretty good emulation of the original game but, of course, it spells ‘Google’ too. Related posts:Web, video and phone conferencing...
Word bloat and privacy policies
How many words do you need to say ‘we will protect your privacy’? Five if that is your real intention. However, if you want to make money, you need a lot more, as these graphics from the NY Times show. (Hat tip: Steve Clayton.) Related posts:Web, video and phone conferencing...
11 things to do at the start of a new (business) relationship
The last week has seen the beginning of a coalition government in the UK. For me personally, it has seen the start of two new client relationships and the renewal of an older one. It seems like a good time to think about what makes relationships work and how to...
Quips and Tips for Successful Writers
Where Are the Best Writing Tips? In the Best Writing Quips, Of Course!
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How to Get Help With Blog Problems, Blog Crashes, and Blog Blips
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Writing for Online Magazines – How to Find Work on the Web
Writing for online magazines can be worthwhile, if writers know which publications, ezines, and markets to pitch! These tips for finding online markets are based on a fellow writer’s questions about creating multiple income streams… “I have been regularly writing for two publications (both trade publications – one is a...
For Niche Writers – 9 Ways to Make Money in Specialized Markets
One of my readers recently pointed out that making money writing may be easier if you’re a generalist. Niche writers may have a more difficult time earning money in specialized markets because of fewer opportunities and lower readership levels… Here’s what she says: “The advice you give is fabulous, very useful,” commented...
For Money Hungry Writers – 10 Tips to Make Money Writing
If you’re a money hungry writer like me, then you need good freelance career habits! These ten tips to make money writing will keep your finances and freelance business healthy and strong… Before the tips, a quip: “For every writer who makes a good living, there are 50 or so who simply make a...
How to Write a Google Adsense Ad to Sell Your eBook
Writing an ebook is a great way to earn passive income…if you can sell it! Google Adsense advertising can be an effective way to promote and sell your book, especially if you’re armed with tips. Here’s what I learned from writing my Google Adsense ad for 73 Ways to Fire Up (or...
Work-in-Progress
I declare today a birthday holiday from blogging…and now, let the wild rumpus start!...
Three Things: Bret Easton Ellis Reading, Plot & Structure, Silence & Writing
I picked up this link off Facebook; it’s a great, basic explanation of structure for novels and stories: http://www.arghink.com/2010/06/21/the-basics-of-fiction/Excerpt:“I. The Central ConflictEvery story is a battle.(P)________must have (G)_______(A)________must have (G)_______The story is launched when the protagonist pushes to achieve her goal.The story is shaped when the antagonist pushes to...
Jenny McKean Moore Free Community Workshop: Creative Nonfiction
I don’t know why the George Washington University can’t put this information on a WEB SITE like everyone else…but here it is, information about the next Jenny McKean Moore Free Community Workshop, typed by my own fingers. I participated in this program way back when and highly recommend the experience....
Bret Easton Ellis Reading Tonight
I may haul myself off to Politics & Prose to listen to Bret Easton Ellis read from his new novel, Imperial Bedrooms, the sequel to Less Than Zero.Reading details are here.Or, maybe this book description from the Politics & Prose website gives us the general gist of how those characters...
The MFA residency at Converse College already seems like a million years ago, even though while I was there I pretty much forgot everything about my regular life back here (grocery shopping? what’s that?). Here are a few highlights from my 10 days in Spartanburg, SC:--The crop of...
A Sane Response to "20 Under 40"
Because I was away, I’m only just now getting around to reading the “20 Under 40” issue of The New Yorker (so far, ZZ Packer’s is the most compelling story, though I’m suspecting it may be part of a longer work).Beyond the work, though, are the feelings such lists dredge...
Writing Roads
The summer after my senior year in high school sticks out in my mind. Prominently. Not because there was a life changing event. Not because I was leaving high school and home and my friends. And not because I was getting ready to go off to college, the east coast and...
Writing Perceptions: Theirs and Yours
Here’s the thing: if you ever go out in public (live or on the web), people are going to see you, judge you, tell stories about who they think you are (in their heads and out loud), like you or not like you. There’s literally nothing you can do about it. I...
How we write: The phases of the writer
When I tell someone that I’m a writer, I watch their minds float away behind their eyes. They’re painting a picture – the likes of a Polaroid, after it’s been shaken and blown on. The writer perches at the edge of her seat. He taps furiously away at his keyboard. There’s...
I like you because you look like me: the psychology of why we’re attracted to things
This morning on my rollerblade, I came across this guy that I must have passed a zillion times, just him and his dog. Usually I’m going by so fast, he’s basically a blur, but the wind was fierce this morning, slowing me down and giving me quite the glimpse. And...
How in the world do you write, design, publish and sell an eBook?
I have two words for you: Aaron Pogue. Back when I first got into this writing game (which was when I discovered reading and the fact that I had command over the alphabet…say age 5), I assumed that I would be writing books. A novelist! was my first thought. But then it...
Several months ago, I made a decision to enact a massive change in my life. It was so big, in fact, that it could have destroyed me. But I wasn’t really up for that. So, I took the only kind of control that I could. I wrote the story of...
Dissertation and thesis writing guide. Literature Review and Research Proposal Hints.
Aiming to Receive a Dissertation Award Who deserves to receive a dissertation award? Of course, we all know that the person who has worked so hard for his dissertation should receive an award. However, it may be intimidating for a beginner to even think of an award when he cannot even...
Preventing Dissertation Plagiarisms in your Research Paper When a student writes his very first dissertation, the main goal will be to write research results coming from other materials. However, he can also use some experimental methods if he wants to produce raw data for analysis. In the case that the writer...
The Steps in Writing Good Theses When was the last time you wrote a good thesis? It is a very important thing that you know some details about writing a good thesis. This type of a project is not only available in undergraduate studies but is also necessary for you to...
The Basic Contents of a Dissertation Book Most students rely on books and other reading materials to learn a new thing. On the aspect of writing a dissertation paper, many of these students will probably look for dissertation books. This way, they will be able to learn the different skills in...
Construction Dissertation Topics
Construction Dissertation Topic as your Option in Writing How come that only a few students are interested to write on a construction dissertation topic? It is because the construction topic is a highly specific and specialized one that not all students have the interest or knowledge to write on it. That...
Coping With the Demands of Nursing Dissertations What are the requirements to write a nursing dissertation? Like what we have been telling you all the time, writing a dissertation paper requires the same steps and procedures. It does not matter whether you are writing a physics dissertation or a nursing dissertation....