About this time every year I get that itch... I wanna travel, explore... GETTHEHECKOUTTAHERE!!!
So.
While you are sitting at school, sitting in your cubicle, sitting on the couch I want you to take those imaginings of faraway places and all that you would do and write... you guessed it... a HAIKU!
If you are miserable and hot and sweating you maybe imagine a place where there are cool pools everywhere and you can just dip and dive as you please, or perhaps you imagine sitting solitarily on a fishing boat in the middle of the ocean surrounded by glaciers off the coast of Alaska... maybe you live in a place where summer has not gotten the memo that its time has come and you are imagining yourself in far off lands surrounded by the dusty dry heat of an African summer or are imagining yourself in your backyard two months from now.
Whatever your daydreams of vacation are, write them down, brainstorm, pick the one you feel most strongly about, the one you could describe the best and start composing.
Listen. I don't care if you've never written a poem in your life. TODAY IS THE DAY! Get out your journal, log onto your online journal, open a fresh word document and get writing.
Share with us what you wrote if you so choose. We always love to hear it.
remember a haiku is composed like so:
5 syllables
7 syllables
5 syllables
Happy Writing!
Blue birds sing softly,
Still gray fog rests heavily
Quiet ocean morn.
A blog by a reader who reads. A lot.
5.28.2010
5.25.2010
Writing Prompt #5: Goodnight, sweet prince...
My fear of bugs, spiders, and other creepy crawlies has been present since I was a child. I remember calling for my dad, my heart pounding whenever I saw a spider. My dad would come with the toilet paper raised like a war-flag and squish that bug. When he did this he always said, "goodnight, sweet prince".
So. the writing prompt for today is this.... think of a time a bug has been hanging around needing a good squishing (unless you are the type to vacuum them up or capture and then release back out into the wide world) and in detail describe the events including your feelings.
THEN to further the excercise I want you to put yourself in the shoes of said insect during the final moments of its little buggy life and describe the events and emotions from its perspective.
Get out your writing notebooks, your journals, your computer and get writing.
As always, feel free to share some or all of what you wrote and request critique if you so desire.
Happy writing!
So. the writing prompt for today is this.... think of a time a bug has been hanging around needing a good squishing (unless you are the type to vacuum them up or capture and then release back out into the wide world) and in detail describe the events including your feelings.
THEN to further the excercise I want you to put yourself in the shoes of said insect during the final moments of its little buggy life and describe the events and emotions from its perspective.
Get out your writing notebooks, your journals, your computer and get writing.
As always, feel free to share some or all of what you wrote and request critique if you so desire.
Happy writing!
5.22.2010
Writing Prompt #4: This land is my land
A lot of sci-fi/fantasy (okay almost all) books have their own world created for the book. Even if this is not how you typically do things, I want you to write a few paragraphs describing you r world or a list of things (i.e. types of people, language*, plant life, sky color, land masses, bodies of water, etc.). This does not mean, necessarily, that you have to make up and alien planet with skies that look like tie-dye at sunset and no one speaks anything but Pig Latin. I particularly am working on two stories that are set in made up towns that seem to be in America. So you can do this.
I personally like to make up where the characters live to avoid in-authenticity with any real place. I have not travelled a lot and would rather remain authentic to my own imagination. Plus it is fun to create a whole new place and have it be 'just so'.
So. Get out your writing notebooks, open a new word document, or log in to your online journal and get writing. This doesn't have to be in story form (although it would be a good opportunity for you to try working on setting the scene in a story); you can write a list, draw a map, etc. I just want you to try to work your imagination and try to create a believable world that never existed before you dreamed it up. Try not to do anything cliche like an underwater city hidden for thousands of years wherein the inhabitants speak perfect English and are a thriving community. okay? Atlantis is out!
As always we'd love to hear what you have to write if you want to share some or all of what you create from the writing prompt. Your works is safe from cruel unnecessary critique and any critique at all if you so choose. Leave a note if you would like feedback (but remember any feedback given is subjective. Personal taste accounts for so much when one is critiquing another's work).
And last but not least, happy writing!
*Quick word of advice: I was at a writing conference where I heard a sci-fi author say to not make up words lacking syllables. Apparently this is frowned upon and I would not want to be held accountable for encouraging it!
I personally like to make up where the characters live to avoid in-authenticity with any real place. I have not travelled a lot and would rather remain authentic to my own imagination. Plus it is fun to create a whole new place and have it be 'just so'.
So. Get out your writing notebooks, open a new word document, or log in to your online journal and get writing. This doesn't have to be in story form (although it would be a good opportunity for you to try working on setting the scene in a story); you can write a list, draw a map, etc. I just want you to try to work your imagination and try to create a believable world that never existed before you dreamed it up. Try not to do anything cliche like an underwater city hidden for thousands of years wherein the inhabitants speak perfect English and are a thriving community. okay? Atlantis is out!
As always we'd love to hear what you have to write if you want to share some or all of what you create from the writing prompt. Your works is safe from cruel unnecessary critique and any critique at all if you so choose. Leave a note if you would like feedback (but remember any feedback given is subjective. Personal taste accounts for so much when one is critiquing another's work).
And last but not least, happy writing!
*Quick word of advice: I was at a writing conference where I heard a sci-fi author say to not make up words lacking syllables. Apparently this is frowned upon and I would not want to be held accountable for encouraging it!
5.21.2010
The Death Collector book review
Gold Star to 'The Death Collector'
** spoiler alert ** It's Jurassic Park, it's Neverwhere, it's The Librarian, it's Frankenstein... it's The Death Collector!
This book reminded me of the above mentioned books (and T.V. movies in the case of The Librarian).
A pick pocket, a museum worker, a pastor's daughter, and a man who works in a special section of a museum where things go that contradict or defy science all work together to try to uncover a mystery left by a famous paleontologist about dinosaurs.
On the trail of this mystery is also a creepy man and his band of thugs and machine men plus his crazy pet dinochine.
Our four heroes have to figure out the mystery and protect it from crazy man before he creates an army of living dead men and dino machines.
To be honest, I wasn't sure I'd like this book but in the end I really enjoyed it. I could put it down, but I did want to see how it ended and enjoyed myself on the journey.
Worth the time to read? Definitely.
A little bit too creepy for little kids, but I think tween boys especially would really enjoy the book
Rowan Hood book/ series review
Silver star.
Last night I finished the final book in the Rowan Hood series. It's a series of books about Robin Hood's daughter who forms her own band of outlaws but also spends time with Robin Hood and his men. It 's a series about a young girl trying to find her place in a man's world and the friends she meets along the way as well as about their adventures. The first and the last book are all about Rowan but the middle books are about her friends in her band.
I am just posting my review of the final book because even though the stories are different, the books are very similar and I enjoyed them all about the same.
Well. This was the final book in the Rowan Hood series and to be honest... I am not sure I liked how it ended. As most people do, I think the end is the most important thing. A book can be well written and end poorly and you are left feeling usatisfied no matter how much you liked the book while you read it.
I play a musical instrument and let me tell you... if the beginning ofyour performance rocks and then end does too, you can get away with a few mistakes in the middle. Maybe I am alone in this (and don't get me wrong, I want a book to have a great middle) but I feel the same way with books. The middle can have a few plot holes, it can be just okay, it can just move a story along, but if the beginning draws me in and if the end leaves me content, I will, generally speaking, love the book.
So. This book wascute, as were the others. Still don't enjoy this series as much as the Enola Holmes series.
I thought there definitely could have been more character development and that even though this book focused on Rowan in particular it would have been nice to feel the other characters' stories wrap up as well.
Also, call me a hopeless romantic, but I wish there had been a love story. I know Nancy Springer seems to be all about women's empowerment, but I think a really strong woman still deserves love AND that if you are really a strong woman you can still be that WHILE being in love. So. a little disappointed there.
This series is cute and fun and worth the time it takes to read it.
Last night I finished the final book in the Rowan Hood series. It's a series of books about Robin Hood's daughter who forms her own band of outlaws but also spends time with Robin Hood and his men. It 's a series about a young girl trying to find her place in a man's world and the friends she meets along the way as well as about their adventures. The first and the last book are all about Rowan but the middle books are about her friends in her band.
I am just posting my review of the final book because even though the stories are different, the books are very similar and I enjoyed them all about the same.
Well. This was the final book in the Rowan Hood series and to be honest... I am not sure I liked how it ended. As most people do, I think the end is the most important thing. A book can be well written and end poorly and you are left feeling usatisfied no matter how much you liked the book while you read it.
I play a musical instrument and let me tell you... if the beginning ofyour performance rocks and then end does too, you can get away with a few mistakes in the middle. Maybe I am alone in this (and don't get me wrong, I want a book to have a great middle) but I feel the same way with books. The middle can have a few plot holes, it can be just okay, it can just move a story along, but if the beginning draws me in and if the end leaves me content, I will, generally speaking, love the book.
So. This book wascute, as were the others. Still don't enjoy this series as much as the Enola Holmes series.
I thought there definitely could have been more character development and that even though this book focused on Rowan in particular it would have been nice to feel the other characters' stories wrap up as well.
Also, call me a hopeless romantic, but I wish there had been a love story. I know Nancy Springer seems to be all about women's empowerment, but I think a really strong woman still deserves love AND that if you are really a strong woman you can still be that WHILE being in love. So. a little disappointed there.
This series is cute and fun and worth the time it takes to read it.
5.19.2010
Haiku You
All right. So getting down to WRITING.
A haiku is a poem with a very specific recipe. You all remember syllables from grade school? Clapping as you say a word to determine how many syllables your name has?
Sa-Rah = two
Em-I-Ly= three
Bart= one
You get the general idea?
So the recipe for Haiku is:
5 syllable line
7 syllable line
5 syllable line
Typically Haikus are used for imagery. The challenge is to create something beautiful, lyrical, and moving all within the constraints of the form. A lot like ballet. An illustration of this is a haiku I wrote:
Writhing winter wind (5 syllables)
Whipping branches back and forth (7 syllables)
Nature's tug-of-war (5 syllables)
I typically enjoy free verse because it is just that, free. But I think that it takes real talent (one I wish I had) to create something poetic even though you have guidlines. Afterall what would life be without guidelines? Not every road can be the Autobahn and yet you can still get where you are going on time if you leave early enough on a road with a 25 mph speed limit. It isn't as much fun, but think of the things you might see along the way when it isn't all a blur. I will compare Hiaku to this. The scenery you get to notice, the butterfly lighting upon a flower, the bees dancing around a meadow, the light sparkling off the refuse on the side of the road.... You have to take it slow, you have to do it 'the man's' way, but you can still create beauty.
Today's writing prompt is to write a Haiku about grapes. It can be an imagery poem or it can have a particular meaning. It can be funny or serious. Stretch yourself, your imagination, and your abilities to create a poem you would love to share within the restraints of a Hiaku. You are more than welcome to also write another Hiaku and share that if you wish, but please put up a Haiku about grapes too.
Here's mine (a little silly, a little gross, but I am inspired by my life and that includes a lot of weird diapers from my baby and his current preferences):
Juicy purple grapes
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Juicy purple poo.
I would really love for you to share your poems in the comments. I think we'd all like to hear them. And I would appreciate no comments belittling anyone else's Haiku. This is a safe environment where we are all learning and growing as writers. If you want critique ask for it in your comment. If anyone wants to critique (CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE ONLY) they can do so. We reserve the right to remove any comment/ critique we feel is hurtful, cruel, or just plain mean. okay?
I want everyone, EVERYONE to try to write a Haiku today and would love for you to share even if you haven't written a poem in your life. We are learning here and your poems are safe!
A haiku is a poem with a very specific recipe. You all remember syllables from grade school? Clapping as you say a word to determine how many syllables your name has?
Sa-Rah = two
Em-I-Ly= three
Bart= one
You get the general idea?
So the recipe for Haiku is:
5 syllable line
7 syllable line
5 syllable line
Typically Haikus are used for imagery. The challenge is to create something beautiful, lyrical, and moving all within the constraints of the form. A lot like ballet. An illustration of this is a haiku I wrote:
Writhing winter wind (5 syllables)
Whipping branches back and forth (7 syllables)
Nature's tug-of-war (5 syllables)
I typically enjoy free verse because it is just that, free. But I think that it takes real talent (one I wish I had) to create something poetic even though you have guidlines. Afterall what would life be without guidelines? Not every road can be the Autobahn and yet you can still get where you are going on time if you leave early enough on a road with a 25 mph speed limit. It isn't as much fun, but think of the things you might see along the way when it isn't all a blur. I will compare Hiaku to this. The scenery you get to notice, the butterfly lighting upon a flower, the bees dancing around a meadow, the light sparkling off the refuse on the side of the road.... You have to take it slow, you have to do it 'the man's' way, but you can still create beauty.
Today's writing prompt is to write a Haiku about grapes. It can be an imagery poem or it can have a particular meaning. It can be funny or serious. Stretch yourself, your imagination, and your abilities to create a poem you would love to share within the restraints of a Hiaku. You are more than welcome to also write another Hiaku and share that if you wish, but please put up a Haiku about grapes too.
Here's mine (a little silly, a little gross, but I am inspired by my life and that includes a lot of weird diapers from my baby and his current preferences):
Juicy purple grapes
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Juicy purple poo.
I would really love for you to share your poems in the comments. I think we'd all like to hear them. And I would appreciate no comments belittling anyone else's Haiku. This is a safe environment where we are all learning and growing as writers. If you want critique ask for it in your comment. If anyone wants to critique (CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE ONLY) they can do so. We reserve the right to remove any comment/ critique we feel is hurtful, cruel, or just plain mean. okay?
I want everyone, EVERYONE to try to write a Haiku today and would love for you to share even if you haven't written a poem in your life. We are learning here and your poems are safe!
5.18.2010
Word of the Day
Word of the Day
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Word: Vociferous (Vo - siff- er- us)
The Challenge: Use five times today. Oh. and post a sentence using it as a comment on this blog.
The Reward: Your friends will think you more intelligent and (more importantly) you will feel more intelligent. After all what greater reward is there than internal reward?! And. the best sentence will be posted and commemorated tomorrow morning with the next word of the day.
Definition from thefreedictionary.com
Vociferous
adj.
Making, given to, or marked by noisy and vehement outcry.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vociferously adv.
Vociferousness n.
Synonyms: vociferous, blatant, boisterous, strident, clamorous
These adjectives mean conspicuously and usually offensively loud. Vociferous suggests a noisy outcry, as of vehement protest: vociferous complaints.
Blatant connotes coarse or vulgar noisiness: "Up rose a blatant Radical" (Walter Bagehot).
Boisterous implies unrestrained noise, tumult, and often rowdiness: boisterous youths.
Strident stresses offensive harshness, shrillness, or discordance: a legislator with a strident voice.
Something clamorous is both vociferous and sustained: a clamorous uproar.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
And now... my sentence! The baby gave a vociferous complaint as his parents laid him down for a nap.
Remember: Post a sentence using the word vociferous as a comment. We will pick the best sentence and commemorate on this blog forever the person with the best. The winner will be posted tomorrow morning along with the new word of the day. There haven't been winners for the past two words. Make sure you post a sentence for a chance to win a gold star.
5.17.2010
Whoooooops!
Okay. I have a new writing prompt for you. Ready? Ready?! Get out your journal or open your word document or sign in to your online journal and get ready to write.
I want you to put yourself in the shoes of either the husband or the wife of a couple who found out they are expecting a baby, but were definitely NOT planning on it. How would you feel, what are you worried about, what are the circumstances that make it so unexpected...? Etc.
Post a blurb, a sentence, a paragraph, the whole thing if you feel like sharing!
Happy writing!
I want you to put yourself in the shoes of either the husband or the wife of a couple who found out they are expecting a baby, but were definitely NOT planning on it. How would you feel, what are you worried about, what are the circumstances that make it so unexpected...? Etc.
Post a blurb, a sentence, a paragraph, the whole thing if you feel like sharing!
Happy writing!
Word of the Day
Word of the Day
There is no winner today! No one posted a sentence using foible, so there can be no winner.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Challenge: Use five times today. Oh. and post a sentence using it as a comment on this blog.
The Reward: Your friends will think you more intelligent and (more importantly) you will feel more intelligent. After all what greater reward is there than internal reward?! And. the best sentence will be posted and commemorated tomorrow morning with the next word of the day.
Definition from thefreedictionary.com
Egregious: adj.
Conspicuously bad or offensive. See Synonyms at flagrant.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
e·gregious·ly adv.
e·gregious·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
And now... my sentence! His cheating on her with her best friend was SO egregious.
Remember: Post a sentence using the word egregious as a comment. We will pick the best sentence and commemorate on this blog forever the person with the best. The winner will be posted tomorrow morning along with the new word of the day. There haven't been winners for the past two words. Make sure you post a sentence for a chance to win a gold star.
5.16.2010
First Book Review
This book is set in modern-day New Orleans where a curse from 155 years ago threatens to destroy the life of a teenage girl from New York.
I really enjoyed this book up until the end. I was enthralled, I was sucked in, I was totally captivated and excited to see how things would turn out. The book is well written, the characters believable and relatable, and overall it is an interesting and fresh ghost-story.
Sadly, the ending was rather anti-climactic. The curse and all the events leading up to its fulfillment are intriguing and cause you to turn page after page. But the night when the curse will be fulfilled and will finally end is a quick blurb. The antagonists are all there when the curse is carried out, but the second something happens (in the blink of an eye) they are done with and the characters are never revisited and barely mentioned again. The main character never seems to have any closure, either. There was a brief epilogue in which we learn a few things about where the main character and her love interest went from there, but it was vague and unsatisfying. I don't read books FOR the love story, but often times I stay BECAUSE OF the love story and when they end dully or not at all it is a disappointment.
A good read, fun and exciting, but brace yourself for a semi-lame and terribly rushed ending.
As much as I wish I could give this book a gold star we're gonna give it a silver star. If you have read this book or end up reading this book, let me know what you thought!
5.15.2010
Word of the Day
There is no winner today! No one posted a sentence using deify, so there can be no winner.
Thumbs up to 'Asian Sensation' for his blurb using yesterday's writing prompt 'yo yo yo':
Word of the Day
The word: Foible (foy-bull)
The Challenge: Use five times today. Oh. and post a sentence using it as a comment on this blog.
The reward: Your friends will think you more intelligent and (more importantly) you will feel more intelligent. After all what greater reward is there than internal reward?! And. the best sentence will be posted and commemorated tomorrow morning with the next word of the day.
Foible: (definition from thefreedictionary.com)
n.
1. A minor weakness or failing of character.
2. The weaker section of a sword blade, from the middle to the tip.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
And now... my sentence! The man had too many foibles for me to take him seriously.
Remember: Post a sentence using the word foible as a comment. We will pick the best sentence and commemorate on this blog forever the person with the best. The winner will be posted tomorrow morning along with the new word of the day.
Happy writing!
5.14.2010
Writing Prompt #2: Yo yo yo!
All right. I just thought of this writing prompt and wanted to post it for you. Get out your journal, open a new Word document, or log into your online journal and get writing.
Writing prompt #2: Yo yo yo! Tell the tale of a yo-yo dieter from their fridge's perspective (or pantry depending on whether you go for the chocolate chips and Oreos or the Phish Food).
Share your first line, paragraph, or an excerpt with us if you want!
Happy writing!
Writing prompt #2: Yo yo yo! Tell the tale of a yo-yo dieter from their fridge's perspective (or pantry depending on whether you go for the chocolate chips and Oreos or the Phish Food).
Share your first line, paragraph, or an excerpt with us if you want!
Happy writing!
Word of the Day
Word of the Day
Yesterday's winner for their use of writhe in a sentence:
ShelliRae:
Listening to my boys fight at the kitchen table makes me writhe in irritation! (really- it does!)
Congratulations, Shelli! (And thanks for posting a sentence!) I think we can all understand!
The word: Deify (D-if-eye)
The challenge: Use five times today. Oh. and post a sentence using it as a comment on this blog.
The reward: Your friends will think you more intelligent and (more importantly) you will feel more intelligent. After all what greater reward is there than internal reward?! And. the best sentence will be posted and commemorated tomorrow morning with the next word of the day.
Deify: (definition from thefreedictionary.com)
tr.v. dei·fied, dei·fy·ing, dei·fies
1. To make a god of; raise to the condition of a god.
2. To worship or revere as a god: deify a leader.
3. To idealize; exalt: deifying success.
dei·fier n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
And now... my sentence! I practically deify any man that does not see spending time with his children as 'babysitting'.
Remember: Post a sentence using the word deify as a comment. We will pick the best sentence and commemorate on this blog forever the person with the best. The winner will be posted tomorrow morning along with the new word of the day.
5.13.2010
Writing Prompt #1 Becoming the Irritant
Okay. So. Sometimes we need a little something to get our creative juices flowing and sometimes we just need to write anything before we can work on whatever something we are stuck on.
So. We will provide writing prompts every week to start and I want you to start a journal and do the writing prompt in it. It can be an online journal, it can be an actual journal, or it can be a computer journal. Sometimes you will write a sentence or come across a bit of human nature that ends up being just the thing for your book/ poem/ etc. and if you keep your journal you can go back and find those little jewels. You needn't worry about your writing being fantastic (although that is nice too), just get you mind working and get out of your slump!
This week's writing prompt (which doubles as therapy):
Think about a pet peeve you have, or something your spouse-kids-sister-brother-neighbor did that really bugged you and then write what happened from THE IRRITANT'S perspective. Now you and I know they did it just to make you mad, but not really. I want you to write down the story from their perspective. You might end up with something really funny and you just might end up being a little more understanding. Okay? okay.
So. Post an excerpt if you want to share what you wrote with everyone!
So. We will provide writing prompts every week to start and I want you to start a journal and do the writing prompt in it. It can be an online journal, it can be an actual journal, or it can be a computer journal. Sometimes you will write a sentence or come across a bit of human nature that ends up being just the thing for your book/ poem/ etc. and if you keep your journal you can go back and find those little jewels. You needn't worry about your writing being fantastic (although that is nice too), just get you mind working and get out of your slump!
This week's writing prompt (which doubles as therapy):
Think about a pet peeve you have, or something your spouse-kids-sister-brother-neighbor did that really bugged you and then write what happened from THE IRRITANT'S perspective. Now you and I know they did it just to make you mad, but not really. I want you to write down the story from their perspective. You might end up with something really funny and you just might end up being a little more understanding. Okay? okay.
So. Post an excerpt if you want to share what you wrote with everyone!
Word of the Day
Word of the Day
The word: Writhe (rye - th)The challenge: Use five times today. Oh. and post as a comment on this blog.
The reward: Your friends will think you more intelligent and (more importantly) you will feel more intelligent. After all what greater reward is there than internal reward?! And. the best sentence will be posted and commemorated tomorrow morning with the next word of the day.
Writhe: (definition from thefreedictionary.com)
1. To twist, as in pain, struggle, or embarrassment.
2. To move with a twisting or contorted motion.
3. To suffer acutely.
v.tr.
To cause to twist or squirm; contort.
n.
The act or an instance of writhing; a contortion.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
And now... my sentence! After the teacher watched me launch a spitball at him, I could do nothing but writhe under his awful, bitter gaze as it hit him square in the forehead.
Remember: Post a sentence using the word writhe as a comment. We will pick the best sentence and commemorate on this blog forever the person with the best. The winner will be posted tomorrow morning along with the new word of the day.
Welcome one and all
So. Here we are. Writers and readers all. Welcome to our world: a world of word lovers.
There's something about the written word, isn't there? Such a thing as you can change which word has the emphasis and completely change the meaning. You must be careful, though, for the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable can accuse you of something nasty indeed.
"I shot my mom?", "I shot my mom?" "I shot my mom?" "I shot my mom?". This is not a confession, merely an illustration. Go on. Try it.
Or perhaps punctuating something differently changes everything and the distance between a period and a question mark is light years away.
I shot my mom! I shot my mom? I shot my mom. Same words different, nay very different, meanings/ feelings. Imagine being a police officer on the scene and what emotions each would portray.
I shot my mom! Um, hello. Someone's excited AND insane?
I shot my mom? Maybe this person's innocent. Or maybe they have bad aim?
I shot my mom. Completely unfeeling, uncaring, and probably a cold-blooded, calculating murderer.
OOr commonly confused words that either are just completely wrong, or if they are messed up lend the wrong message.
Their dogs (posession).
They're dogs (rude!).
There! Dogs! (ooh. look. I am five and excited to see a quadriped. Maybe I will get down on my hands and knees and pretend to be a dog! Don't put holes in your pants! Look what you did, your hands are all dirty!)
So. The point of this exercise is to show how important little things like punctuation can be.
Play with it. See what accusatory or comepletely innocent things you can come up with just by changing punctuation or emphasis.
And come back soon. We'd love to have you!
There's something about the written word, isn't there? Such a thing as you can change which word has the emphasis and completely change the meaning. You must be careful, though, for the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable can accuse you of something nasty indeed.
"I shot my mom?", "I shot my mom?" "I shot my mom?" "I shot my mom?". This is not a confession, merely an illustration. Go on. Try it.
Or perhaps punctuating something differently changes everything and the distance between a period and a question mark is light years away.
I shot my mom! I shot my mom? I shot my mom. Same words different, nay very different, meanings/ feelings. Imagine being a police officer on the scene and what emotions each would portray.
I shot my mom! Um, hello. Someone's excited AND insane?
I shot my mom? Maybe this person's innocent. Or maybe they have bad aim?
I shot my mom. Completely unfeeling, uncaring, and probably a cold-blooded, calculating murderer.
OOr commonly confused words that either are just completely wrong, or if they are messed up lend the wrong message.
Their dogs (posession).
They're dogs (rude!).
There! Dogs! (ooh. look. I am five and excited to see a quadriped. Maybe I will get down on my hands and knees and pretend to be a dog! Don't put holes in your pants! Look what you did, your hands are all dirty!)
So. The point of this exercise is to show how important little things like punctuation can be.
Play with it. See what accusatory or comepletely innocent things you can come up with just by changing punctuation or emphasis.
And come back soon. We'd love to have you!
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