Plain Vs Plane: Fun with Words

I have to start this post with the same disclaimer I’ve used before: I am not a grammarian. I make mistakes in my writing. I am always learning, growing and (hopefully) honing my craft.

That being said, I do take the time to look up a word if I’m not sure how to use it. When reading a popular fiction blog yesterday, I came across this sentence: 

(MC) felt as if she had been transported to the highest level of the physical plain. Eyes closed, she took a deep breath and considered the possibility that she may have crossed over into the spiritual plain. Intuitively, she knew she must understand how vibration is defined differently on the spiritual plain…

I said to myself – Oh no, not again. 

Homonyms are problematic for many writers. I wrote about some of the usual suspects in these posts: 

Common Words Writers and Bloggers Misuse 

Did that Pique, Peek or Peak Your Interest? 

Regarding plain or plane, here’s a refresher:

Plain: 

Simple, normal, basic 

I’m looking for a plain white t-shirt

Obvious, clear

It was in plain view

Flat, level

He lives near the salt plains of Utah

Plane:

An airplane

A flat or level surface

A carpenter’s tool

Level of existence, consciousness (see above)

It’s confusing because the words plain and plane sound alike. In fact, they both come from the Latin word planus which means flat or clear.

I always have to pause and think when I'm using affect or effect. What about you, are there certain words that trip you up? ____________________________________________________

This post is in participation with the Group Blogging Experience, and this week’s prompt is Oh no, not again. If you want to blog with us, go to the GBE2 Facebook page and request to join the group. Everyone is welcome.

Admission of Suckage

Yes, it's entirely true. I have neglected my blogs in the biggest way possible. In fact, shamefully, I didn't even know the password to get in here. I had to look it up.

I suck.

Let me tell you how bad I suck. There has only been one post between the one I'm writing now and this one, where I vow that I'll start blogging again. See, I win the suckage award.

I forgive myself for sucking.

That's always true. Life happens, things happen, and sometimes something has to give. Usually the thing that has to give is the thing that 1) doesn't need me for health reasons 2) doesn't need me for emotional reasons and 3) doesn't pay me. So as much as I love this blog (is that weird?), sometimes it gets pushed to the side. Not my writing, that never gets pushed to the side. Just the blogging.

Now I'm busting out the password, brushing off the dust, and reintroducing myself to the blog.

If you're reading this, thanks for staying interested. I missed you.

Happy Blogging!

Freelance Work

A few years ago I retired from the corporate workplace. What's that you say? I look too young to be retired? Well, that's mighty kind of you, thanks.

Ahhh, flattery. It always makes my day. Where was I? Oh yeah, work. So I retired from a big job that required lots of hard work and responsibility and decided to be a freelancer - although I had no idea what that really meant. I set about researching freelance opportunities and started a fledgling writing career. I'd hack out corporate communications copy, sales brochures and annual reports all day long; mostly for companies I had relationships with from my previous jobs. Hey, it's a living. But I still didn't know how to develop a 'real' freelance writing career.

In the meantime, I started blogging. Now I'm old school (another age reference? really?!) and didn't know nuthin about no blogging. I jumped in anyway and wrote some pitiful posts. Wavering somewhere between online journaling and mindless drivel, I chugged along. I needed a place to be creative so I kept at it.

Feeling a little more confident and realizing I needed a niche, I began a blog about my pets. People started to read it. I started to like it. I'm a crazy, diehard animal lover so it fit. Then an editor at a corporate dog food blog started reading, one thing led to another, and now I blog for them. Real work as a freelancer! A few more goodies have come my way and I am eternally grateful. I plan to work harder and keep growing.

I'll finish this post with yet another age reference. If you take anything away from this post, it should be this:

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This post is in participation with the Group Blogging Experience, and this week’s topic is work. If you want to blog with us, visit the GBE2 Facebook page and request to join the group. Everyone is welcome.
 

Have You Abandoned Me?

Dear Langley,

I can’t help but notice that the last time you posted here was Halloween. It’s now past Thanksgiving. I try not to be needy or desperate but I’ve got to ask… are you spending time on other blogs? Prettier blogs? More exciting blogs?

What do you want from me? I can be pretty. I can be exciting. I’ll be anything you want me to be.

Don’t forget, you made me what I am. If you’ve lost interest, that’s on you. I won’t take responsibility. In fact, you need to get your act together and come back to me. I am a good and decent blog. You can look all you want but you won’t find a more upstanding, responsible and loving blog. You’re no picnic yourself. Everything’s always about you, you, you, with no consideration for my needs.

If you want to come back, you better be prepared to beg. I will not lower my standards to accommodate you, I have too much self-respect. Things have got to change between us. I coolly await your response. 

Signed, Lonely blog

Dear Blog,

I’ll come back, I promise. This isn’t about you, it’s about me. I’m spending my time writing for paying clients, trying to save money for the holidays. You’re still my number one blog. I have not forgotten all the good times we’ve had; all the fun topics we’ve covered and the nice followers we’ve met. Please accept my sincerest apologies.

Will you take me back if I promise to give you more attention? I can commit to posting at least twice per month through the holidays. If you’ll give me a chance, I’m sure I can be a better and more prolific writer for you. After we get through the busy season, I can even do better. I will try my hardest to post once per week after the New Year.

What do you say? Please don’t throw away all our good times. I’m begging. You’re worth it. Thanks for holding me accountable, it’s one of the many things I love about you. Let’s make this work.

Yours always, Over-committed writer

Am I Really a Writer?

Can you call yourself a writer if you’re not writing? I know writers who claim they must write every day, it’s like oxygen to them. I am not that person. I can go for long periods of time without writing anything. Even if I need to write for financial reasons - if it’s not happening it’s just not happening.

I am in this very slump right now. I’m distracted. Other things seem more pressing. I don’t feel like writing. I wouldn’t call it writers block because I have plenty of ideas.


If I could make myself sit down and put my fingers on the keyboard I’m sure the words would come.

Words don’t fail me. If anything, I fail them.

I wrote a silly poem about writer’s block last year, primarily to get over the hump. Here it is: Overcoming Writer's Block - a Poem. But even then, I questioned the difference between writer’s block and lack of motivation. Are they the same thing? Are they different?

To me, they are different.

I’m supposed to be writing about balance and I am. Are you following? If you’re reading between the lines you’ll gather that I have none. You are correct. I’m either in a writing frenzy or a writing drought. (Maybe writing slack-off would be a more precise description but I’m scared of the word slack-off).

My hope is that this forced post makes me climb back in the saddle. My pocketbook hopes so too.

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This post is in participation with the Group Blogging Experience, and this week’s prompt is balance. If you want to blog with us, go to the GBE2 Facebook page and request to join the group. Everyone is welcome.

Common Words Writers and Bloggers Misuse: Fun with Words

Disclaimer: I am not a grammarian. I make mistakes in my writing. I am always learning, growing and (hopefully) honing my craft.

I read a lot of blogs and see common words that even seasoned writers and bloggers misuse. In many cases, online writers and bloggers don’t have editors. We can self-publish with the push of a button. There is danger in that freedom; when words are repeatedly used incorrectly, a writer’s post or article loses credibility.

Homonyms are tricky. They are words that are spelled or pronounced the same way as one or more other words but have different meanings. If you’re writing and you’re unsure about the proper use of a word, take the time to look it up. If you’re in the flow and can’t be bothered, go back and edit before you publish. It matters.

Here are some of the worst offenders:

Testing the 'After the Jump' Function on Blogger

This is a test post. I've noticed that some of my blogger friends write their entire post on one 'page' while others write an intro and add a 'read more' link. Considering which way I should organize my blogs, I posed the question to the blogging community. 

Smile, Modine: Flash Fiction

Modine hobbled up 4 steep steps to get on the bus. She could feel the impatience of other the passengers. Their shifting and grumbling confirmed it, she was taking too long. She tried to hustle but her blasted right knee was not cooperating. It locked up at the bus stop and hurt like hell. After much effort she reached the platform and counted out her change. Dropping the coins into the slot, she grabbed an overhead rail as the bus whined and wheezed its way onto the busy road. It sounded as feeble as Modine felt.     

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This post was written for The Writers' Post group on Facebook, and this week’s prompt is to write a flash fiction story with exactly 100 words, including the title.  If you want to connect with other bloggers and join the fun, go to The Writers' Post Facebook page and request to join the group. Everyone is welcome.

Opportunities to Make Money

Opportunities multiply as they are seized. ~Sun Tzu

And by opportunities--for the purpose of this post--I mean money. Sure, it doesn’t grow on trees like the photo suggests (wouldn’t that be convenient!?) but I sincerely believe that opportunities to make money multiply as they are seized. My experience as a freelance writer proves this point.

When I was just starting out, a potential client approached me about a project that involved writing copy for trade publications. Yeah, okay, I can do that. What's the project? 

Extracting contaminated PCBs from transformers. 

Whaaaat? I was clueless... but broke. What to do, what to do?

I was honest. I told him I didn't consider myself a technical writer of that kind but that I was a quick learner. I let him know that I was willing to give it a shot if he could make the resources (engineers) available for me to ask loads of stupid uninformed questions. We further agreed that if I didn't 'get it' in a reasonable time frame we would part ways respectfully. No harm, no foul.       

Many seasoned freelance writers will tell you to find your passions and build a niche for yourself. I agree with that advice 100%. But I am also passionate about food and shelter. I certainly didn't want (or expect) to build a niche as a Polychlorinated biphenyls writer but it paid the bills. And it lead to more writing opportunities.

You know what? It was interesting. Not interesting as in 'how does Raquel Welch still look so good at her age' interesting, but interesting. I dug in, focused, and learned a lot. I wrote about PCBs for quite a while (and if you know about PCBs, this post is really showing my age!).

So that's my advice, for what it's worth. Grow your own money tree. Go boldly forward. Seize those opportunities and they will multiply. 

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This post is in participation with the Group Blogging Experience, and this week’s topic is a picture prompt. If you want to blog with us, go to the GBE2 Facebook page and request to join the group. Everyone is welcome.

Control Over Your Writing Environment

One of the things I love about being a freelance writer is that the word free is in my occupational description. After a long career in ‘Corporate America,’ I am now free. Free to choose my own clients, projects and topics. Free to write what I want. Free to write when I want.  Free to write where I want.

Kinda.

I discovered something about myself this week. I’m not as free to write where I want as I thought I was. I need some measure of control over my writing environment.

This week I am out of my routine and out of my environment. I am with my parents, offering support as my dad undergoes a procedure. I have the technology to complete my writing assignments and stay on schedule, what I lack is the focus. Not because of my dad’s procedure or my mom’s worry but because of… noise, distractions.

To write about serious topics, I need silence. I’m not the ‘go to a coffee house and bang out a few articles’ kind of writer. I like to write in silence.

Sure, I’ve spent time in airports and coffee shops penning silly poems and jingles--but not the serious stuff. Not the real writing.

I was all geared up to sit in the hospital and catch up on my writing assignments, blog posts and maybe indulge in some fiction writing. Nope. Instead I surfed the internet, read trashy magazines and talked it up with the nurses and docs. No writing.

It’s late at night. We are back at my parent’s house and everybody is in bed. Dad is fine. It’s quiet. Now I can write.

What about you? Are you a crank-up-the-music and go kind of writer? Can you write in a bustling crowd or with kids running around the house? Can you write and watch TV at the same time?

Or do you need control over your writing environment?    
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This post is in participation with the Group Blogging Experience, and this week’s topic is control. If you want to blog with us, go to the GBE2 Facebook page and request to join the group. Everyone is welcome.

WordPress vs. Blogger: the Conclusion

I started a WordPress blog and a Blogger blog at approximately the same time. (Here is the link to my first post about this experiment, if you care to follow the plot). Along with plenty of other errors and bad judgment calls, I named both blogs the same thing. *facepalm*

Then I joined a daily blogging challenge, which seriously tested my blogging skills but also forced me to go deeper on both platforms. Yes, not one to dip my toe in the water, I plunged right in. I over-enthusiastically signed up both (same named) blogs for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. As I hacked and miss-stepped and clumsily pushed forward, I learned a lot.

Before I give my final conclusion, I’d like to make a few things clear: I am technologically challenged, I gravitate towards the intuitive and easy, I want my blog to be easy (to read and to navigate), I don’t like to read instructions, I want my blog to look good, I want to know what people find interesting,

As I said before and still believe, there are pros and cons to each. If I was king of the world, I’d combine the best of both and have a goldmine perfect blogging platform. Still, after 30+ posts on both WordPress and Blogger, I favor Blogger overall.

What about you?

New Pets Blog

Glutton for punishment or blogging addict? You decide *but don't tell me what you think*! Ha. Anyway, yes, I started a new blog. I have loads to learn about blogging. And since I'm a 'learn by doing' kind of gal, I'm doing.

I write about pets for the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Demand Studios and Examiner. Animals are one of my favorite subjects to write about. Though the blogosphere is over-saturated with pets blogs, I'm jumping in anyway. We totally have the cutest pets in the universe, so yes, they are worthy of a blog all by themselves.

Besides, I just can't help myself (see above).







Oh, the link? Here you go: Hearts in Fur Coats
I'd love to know what you think.

The Yahoo! Contributor Network Article Writing Challenge

Crazy, right?! Yep, I signed up for another challenge. This is an article writing challenge on the Yahoo! Contributor Network, as opposed to the A-Z Blogging Challenge we just finished up. 

It's simple - write one article on YCN per week starting with the letter A. You can either publish the articles display only to ensure they publish in the proper week or submit them for upfront payment, which means they'll be reviewed and published when an editor gets to it.    

Even though I'm commitment phobic and avoid rules whenever possible, this article writing challenge appeals to me because it's a once-a-week deal (see how I used the word deal instead of commitment) and the rules are loose. Really, there are no rules, more like guidelines.

So I'm in, kind of. My A article is languishing in the queue. I'm waiting to see if it flies before I write B because I'm going to write on a theme. It's taking longer than usual to process, maybe because I rarely write on this subject so the editor doesn't know me. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I'm a week behind on the challenge and we just started one week ago. 

What? Did you say you want to know what my never-before-written-about theme is? I'll let you know after editorial review.

Blog Design Update

Hi friends. I have not posted lately because, well, the A-Z Blogging Challenge took it out of me. You may remember that I was new to blogging when the challenge began and I jumped in with both feet. All I had time to do - regarding writing - was push out some client articles and blog. No time whatsoever for blog design.

There's so much to learn about blog design, and so many fun things to do. I've changed templates here and added a signature (see below). Not sure if I'm completely happy with it, yet. Apparently this blog will be yet another WIP. That's okay, it's fun to learn new stuff.

Tell me what you think of the new blog template and the signature. What else should I do? Seriously. I'm a baby here and could use the feedback.

That's it for now, I'm off to learn how to change up the post dividers...

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Top 10 List

The A-Z Blogging Challenge. Over 1,200 bloggers. One post per day per letter of the alphabet. Whew. I had no idea what I was getting into. And now, it's over. I did it! Every.Single.Day. (except Sundays).

As a new blogger, I really didn't know what I was getting into, but this was baptism by fire. The challenge was probably the best way to learn how to blog and get into a routine. Special thanks to Lee and the other hosts at Tossing it Out There. The challenge helped me in so many ways.

Today is the first day of the end of the challenge. I feel a bit out of sync, like I have to blog today. So I'll write my recap..

Here are the Top 10 things the A-Z Blogging Challenge taught me:

1. Bloggers are good people
2. I write better with prompts
3. Goals are necessary for me to be productive
4. Peer support is more important than I anticipated
5. I have tons to learn about the technical aspects of blogging
6. Challenges are motivational
7. Blogging is more intimate than article writing/sharing
8. The blogging community is sincerely supportive
9. Colorful, shiny badges look cool on a blog
10. Camaraderie fuels my enthusiasm

Thanks to all of you who supported this journey and cheered me on. I look forward to more interaction with you. It was a pleasure and a delight.

Now to Catch Some ZZZZZZZs

It's with mixed emotions that I make this announcement. It's over. This is my final post for the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Since it's Z-day and since I'm creatively spent, I'm going to write about catching some ZZZZZZZZs after this challenge is over. Okay, I totally lifted the idea from the comment section (thanks Word Nerd) but still, it will be nice to sleep more.

Going into the challenge I had no plan, no map, no clue. I blogged by the seat of my newbie pants the entire month. Some nights, as I was trying to sleep, I would start churning through possibilities for the next day's post. I would write the post in my mind and think I could remember it until morning.  Then I might think of other options for that letter and mind-write another post. This could go on for hours. Mentally writing instead of sleeping.

Yes, I know that writers often sleep with a pen and pad on their bedside table for this very reason. I do too. But I don't like to turn on the light once it's off. The light makes me 'more awake' and then I'm liable to fire up the computer and settle in for a night-long date with the written word. Actually writing instead of sleeping.

Sure, I'll still mentally write and actually write when I should be sleeping, sometimes. I always have. But maybe I'll do the mental-writing thing less. Perhaps the alphabetic prompts over-stimulated me creatively. I couldn't turn it off. So now I need some good, old-fashioned ZZZZZZZZs.

See you after I catch some sleep.

T is for Too Close to Quit

Warning: cop-out post alert.

That's right. I'm not good about writing on the weekends and today is Saturday. Amazingly, I have stayed 100% compliant with the A - Z Blogging Challenge (on this blog). I say amazingly because, since I escaped from the rigid corporate bonds of my previous existence I've become commitment phobic. So much so that I almost didn't participate in this fun challenge at all. The fact that the challenge had no strict 'rules' attracted me, so I jumped in. See, that's another thing I avoid, rules. No commitments and no rules please. Call it overcompensation or whatever, but I've had enough of those to last a lifetime.

My drive and competitive nature has not waned in retirement, however. Once I start something I will finish it. And I started this challenge so I will finish it.

Today is the day for a T-post. And, as I mentioned, it's Saturday. So my T-post is about the fact that I'm too close to quit. That's it. No more wisdom or insight. Just that I will continue to plug through until I reach Z.

That is next Saturday, right???

Q is for Quagmire

Totally appropriate for today. My Q-word is quagmire.

Q came at the right time because I feel like I'm stuck in a quagmire, figuratively speaking of course.

The Encarta Dictionary defines quagmire (noun) as 1) swamp: a soft marshy area of land that gives way when walked on and 2) an awkward, complicated, or dangerous situation from which it is difficult to escape.

The word quagmire is used more colloquially around here. Instead of using quagmire to describe an awkward, complicated or dangerous situation we use it more to mean a dilemma, a pickle, a predicament, a jam, a quandary.  

The reason I feel like I'm stuck in a quagmire is that I've been pushing out these A-Z Blogging Challenge posts the day of. No preplanning, no scheduling, no rough drafts. And things are starting to get busy. I've picked up a few new clients that expect me to produce (gasp!).

I started this challenge and I intend to finish it so I find myself in a quagmire.

Footnote: I purposely refrained from writing about Glenn Quagmire here. If I open that subject, I'm afraid I'll get in a real quagmire.

K is for Kigo

I love to write haiku, the 3-line verse that contains five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second and five syllables in the third. A form of Japanese verse, haiku usually do not rhyme-and they pop out of my mouth like a Pez Dispenser.

My haiku habit is the subject of jokes among family and friends. I always write a haiku about whatever gift I receive and include it in the thank-you card, for fun. I've published plenty of haiku on the internet as well, but recently stopped. I think my haiku are more fun to write than than they are to read.

Still, this one gets decent page views: 
 Leftover Chocolate Easter Bunny - a Haiku Trio

And some homeschooling parents picked up this haiku riddle sheet to use in lesson plans:
Can you Guess the Animals in the Haiku Zoo?

Okay, enough self promotion. What does haiku (obviously an H-word) have to do with kigo (my K-word post for the A-Z Blogging Challenge)?

As I pondered what to write today, I played around on some of my favorite research sites. Stumbling onto the word kigo, I dug a bit deeper.

According to the Literary Terms and Definitions website:

Kigo is a traditional 'season-word' in Japanese haiku. The kigo must appear within a haiku's text or be strongly implied by imagery. These words place the haiku within a specific month or season, establishing an atmosphere for the poem while maintaining brevity.

Color me excited. That's fantastic! I did not know about kigo until today.

As buds strain to bloom 
Consciousness grows to include 
Word discovery

This is why I love being a writer. Always researching and always learning. 

Happy writing! Don't forget to include a kigo in your next haiku!

J is for Just Write Something

Today has been a busy day in town as it officially marks the 150-year anniversary of the American Civil War. We live in Charleston, S.C., where the first shots were fired (Fort Sumter) so we had to get out into the fracas. Keeping up my morning ritual of writing A-Z Blogging Challenge posts took a back seat on my daily schedule, so I find myself trying to quickly bang out a J post.

Since I’m blogging by the seat of my pants (no plan, randomly choosing a topic when I sit down to write) I have no J word ready. Nope, no nuggets of gold, no pearls of wisdom here today. Just a girl sitting at a desk writing a blog post about nothing. (Hey, it worked for Seinfeld.)

So I'll...

Just write.

Just write something. 

I’ll refer you to my I post from yesterday about where ideas come from. I'm directing you there because today, this random post, is a demonstration of what I was trying to communicate yesterday. 

As I said, when faced with lack of ideas/writers block/no motivation/a missing muse, I free write. So welcome to the inside of my head. This is me free writing.  

Just writing.