Motivation. This is the powerful emotion that inspires people to get off the couch and grab a tub of ice cream. It’s the only thing that is strong enough to pull me out of a very warm bed when it’s still dark and cold outside. It’s what inspires Harry Potter to defeat Voldemort in Harry […]
Writing Advice
Ten Commandments for the Happy Writer
Writers aren’t generally known as the happiest lot. As a recent Guardian survey of some top writers shows, even the best ones don’t particularly enjoy it all that much. And in case you think this is a new development, an 1842 letter from Edgar Allen Poe to his publisher recently surfaced in which he was […]
Sympathetic vs. Unsympathetic Characters
Thanks so much to everyone who de-lurked yesterday. And notice how you don’t have scurvy today? You’re cured! Also a special thanks to WitLizToday, who provided some awesome/hilarious de-lurk stats, including a tally of the few states not represented and the number of de-lurkers who claim to be from the Internet and/or Never-Never Land. Also […]
Can I Get a Ruling: One or Two Spaces After a Period?
First off, congratulations to my childhood hero Rickey Henderson for being elected into the baseball Hall of Fame!! Not only was Rickey an incredible hitter and base stealer, he also said things like “Rickey don’t like it when Rickey can’t find Rickey’s limo” (no seriously, that’s an actual quote), making him spectacularly entertaining off the […]
Can I Get a Ruling: Beginning a Sentence With “That”?
I’m back! Happy ’09, everyone. May all of you win the lottery. Longtime readers may have noted that in an effort to make this blog more… well, professional, I have cut back on the amount of virtual ink I devote to reality television. Yes, I know. I was attacked by a bout of seriousness. I’m […]
About Those Books Beginning With Dialogue
The results from yesterday’s Can I Get a Ruling? are in, and 77% of you are incontinent. Also, you may have surmised from my own stated philosophy of “if it works it works” as well as the inclusion of a Third Way, that I too am in the “Depends” category. People have raised lots of very […]