http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com Thoughts on writing Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:50:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I grew up in a college prep middle/high school. I had a great education in all of the subjects, but I always did a bit better in English than anything else. I never had trouble writing essays and reports in college and grad school because I had this great training ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2008/01/24/fighting-your-voice-in-writing/ Spelling seems to have become the bane of many people's existence. I'd even argue that people are nearly as willing to accept being bad at spelling as they are at math. I'm not even sure half my students are even given weekly spelling words anymore. Amazingly, a fair number of my ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2008/01/03/good-spelling-is-related-to-good-pronunciation/ I realize this is going to sound a bit crazy, but the next time you find yourself stumped in your writing, grab the nearest dictionary, open it to a random page, pick a random word, and work it into your writing. (Yes, this has worked amazingly well for some of ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2007/12/20/the-dictionary-as-a-writing-prompt/ One of my goals on my secret to-do list is to take an improv class, or at the very least, sit and watch one rehearse. I always thought it would be a great way to work on improving my writing because it would hopefully get me into the mindset of ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2007/12/13/an-improvisational-writing-prompt/ I thought John Hewitt's advice on revising the first draft of a novel came at the perfect time- right as thousands of people were finishing up National Novel Writing Month. I have my own way of navigating the revising and editing processes, but these tips might be perfect for you if ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2007/12/06/editing-the-first-draft/ A great post on The Elegant Variation last week shared the dangers of descriptions. It reminded me of notes I often write on my students' essays when they're trying to describe something. More often than not, the description is worded just oddly enough to cause something weird to happen in ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2007/11/23/beware-careless-descriptions/ Copyblogger had a great post the other day on common punctuation errors that keep people's writing from looking as polished as it could be. Master these few tips to keep your work looking good. He's given his advice on each one, but I'd like to add my own thoughts on what ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2007/11/15/common-punctuation-errors/ National Novel Writing Month started last week. Writers around the world are wrestling with plot, setting, characters. That last one can be a bit tricky. Naming characters has always been my least favorite part of the process. In fact, I probably wrote the majority of the first volume of my graphic ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2007/11/08/name-that-character/ There seems to be this debate raging quietly: Are bullet points still effective? Bullet points were originally used to call out important information the writer didn't want the reader to miss. They then became ubiquitous with presentations, sales material, learning material, and nearly everything else. As with all widely accepted practices, bullet ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2007/11/01/is-there-a-point-to-bullet-points/ Just in time for NaNoWriMo, there is a cool new mash-up to help you find popular names for the United States and parts of Europe. Of course, this only helps if you're trying to name characters set in the real world...and at the current time. For those writing in the past, ... http://writingniche.rebeccathomasdesigns.com/2007/10/25/quick-i-need-a-name/