A Work in Progress

ra I'm always forgetting correct grammar rules. I mean, always. And did I mention my punctuation is pathetic? Well, it is. There's a really cool website that I just found, and it's called "Grammar Girl." Well, actually it's really called "Quick and Dirty Tips," and I'm certain I am not italicizing and parathentizing correctly here. But, if I really want to know the right way to write, this lady has the answers. There are a bazillion tips for careers, work, lifetstyle, pets, etc. Hence the name "Quick and Dirty Tips." But, it's the grammar section that really spoke to me. This section is filled with quick tips, written in a way that will make me always remember a particular rule the next time I need to use it. Like, How to Speak English like the Irish , or How to Write Grammatically Correct Photo Captions, or Commas with Adjectives . Useful, funny and insightful ... all at the same time. Way cool! There's always a quick ti

So, I'm sure many of you out there could use a little ego boost with your writing. What if there was a great way to do this, and maybe make a little money ( really little money) from it at the same time? You can. I just recently signed up to be a part of the Yahoo!Contributor Network.  What this means is that I am able write about whatever I want, whenever I want and have it all (almost) published. Some of you may think this is a waste of time, or maybe even beneath you. But, I don't look at it like that. In order to be a better writer, we have to actually write, as often as we can, when we can, and learn, learn, learn the craft -- from content to editing. And to be published during that journey? Wouldn't that be swell? Well, here's an example. I reworked an article I wrote months ago about how just doing a few simple things to your house, can make it look new again. I called it  Live in a New House (... without having to move). It was published almost immediately,

Whenever the writing bug isn't as pesky as it should be -- bugging me until I write something long --sometimes I go for little bits - like short story little bits. Chicken Soup for the Soul If writing novels or long stories is your thing, then writing a short story is going to be difficult. Having to think about dialogue, background, imagery and plot in 1500 words or less, is a challenge that many people have a hard time with -- me included. However, this is where you have a chance to work at your skills. By writing in a few words, what would normally take a paragraph or two, we learn to activate our passive writing, condense our wordiness, and perfect our action scenes to precision. Of course, what I'm talking about mainly has to do with fiction. And going from long fiction to short fiction is tough; it's almost like using a completely different side of our brain. But, let me throw a wrench into this mix: what if you wrote a short piece of non-fiction? If the

Somehow, in one way or another, I end up writing (even if in brief) about coffee in my blogs. This is a habit (not just the writing, but drinking) for a lot of writers, because it really may be the only thing keeping us in our chair -- trying to do what we were called to do -- but suffering horribly at times because of that enormous wall called “writer’s block.” But this post isn’t about walls, and blocks and such. It’s again, about the coffee. Did you know that Swedes (as in the folks of Sweden) are the highest coffee drinkers per capita in the world? My maiden name is Swedish, even though I’m a mix of all things European. And a whopping ¼ of me is Finnish. Though Finland isn’t Sweden, it IS next door to it. And I think that counts as a good explanation as to why I love the black gold so much. This picture is of my most favorite coffee mug in the world. My blog friends Erica and Christy are having a blogfest about coffee cups today. Each blogger is supposed to post their favo