Today on the blog, we’ve decided to have a little fun. We created a quiz that will determine which punctuation mark you are!
Punctuation marks can completely change a sentence, a paragraph, and an entire novel. Every writer uses them differently and we often have favorites that accompany our writing.
So we decided to create a quiz to help you determine which punctuation mark you might be most like.
The world still needs more silly. That’s why we want to invite you to please join us for The Second Annual Wacky Writing Prompt Scavenger Hunt. We will randomly choose three participants to win a new Moleskine notebook, a red Swingline stapler, or a pair of rubber gloves.
You don’t have to have fun if you don’t want to. I don’t even mind if you whine a little bit. I won’t even make you brush your teeth before you start the game. And I won’t make you clean my seven litter boxes.
Still—please have fun. Fun is good. So is pizza.
Every year romance tops the list of the most widely read genres. From Edward and Bella to Harry and Sally to Romeo and Juliette, most of the greatest stories ever told have at their center two people discovering their feelings for one another.
We love tales of characters fighting to find a connection, but before we can flush out a fiery story filled with heat and tension, we need to understand what kind of spark our characters are experiencing.
I’ve experienced three different forms of romantic feeling: infatuation, lust, and love. Each is its own unique kind of fire. When we write romantic relationships between characters, it’s important we know which of these three types of burn they are experiencing.
I had always dreamed of making it as a full-time writer. Somehow, here I am, every day waking up and driving to a coffee shop to write a book.
In the midst of that, as I’m filled with amazement that I’m actually doing this writing thing, I have to ask myself—why? Why do I write? Why do any of us write? Why write?
I used to think I was writing to make a name for myself. I thought I was writing to one day sell lots of books and make money. But while it’s only been a couple of years since I’ve become a “full-time” writer, each day I come to realize more and more that writing was never about the prestige or money.
I want to take a minute to reflect and remind us why we write.
Our past writing can keep us from writing now. We may feel discouraged and not write if we think our past writing was horrible. Or maybe we think we were brilliant and not write because we feel we can never write that well again. Or maybe we think we are better at being typists for our cats than we are at writing our own stories.
I met a writer last week, Sheila, who destroyed her past writing. She told me she had just shredded everything she ever wrote—journals, poetry, and short stories. I asked her if she still had the shredded paper. I wanted it.
Ever sit and stare at the page, unsure what to write? It happens to me at least once a week. You sit down to write and draw a complete blank.
Panic sets in. You worry, “Will I ever think of anything worth writing again.” Your mind screams, “Has the well run dry? Is the journey over? Woe is me; the world is coming to an end!”
Then, I take a deep breath and go to my Thoughtful Spot.
