So, I skipped a few weeks, but I’m back now and starting the prompts again. Since I live in Chicago, I’m currently covered in about 2 feet of snow. It’s time for winter to end! In that spirit, this week’s prompt is Spring. Send in your submissions by next Sunday, March 7, 2010 for judging. The requirements haven’t changed.
For the vast majority of readers, contractions are beneficial. In general, people enjoy reading words that resemble the way they speak, and contractions are an easy way to add this bit of native flair to your writing. You have to use the contractions correctly, though. The best place to start is with what a contraction is, what it isn’t and how to spot a good place to use it.
A contraction is a combination of two words, with an apostrophe marking the joining. For example, you might say, “I’m going to the store.” I’m represents two distinct words: I and am. There is always a place and time to use the words independently, but, usually, native speakers use contractions.
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The only way to improve your skill, at anything, is to practice. The only way to practice is, of course, to do it as often as possible. To become a master of your chosen craft, it’s said, you have to invest 10,000 hours of practice and skill-honing. Considering that, talent will only get you so far. You have to put in the time and effort to get better, and, unfortunately, produce some really awful content along the way.
Some writers will tell you to write everyday. Others will say write whenever the mood strikes you. Personally, I think everyone is (or can be) a writer, and everyone is writing all the time. Whether you’re telling your kids a story, wondering about the events leading up to a car wreck or thinking of what will happen after you ask your boss for a raise, you’re writing. You might not be putting something down in the written word, but you’re speculating about something that doesn’t exist yet.
In this guest post, freelancer Piotr Krzyzek shares his secrets of time management when the client is half-way across the world.
Working as a freelancer is a daunting task in and of itself. Having your client on the other side on the world surely does not help. When you are getting ready for bed, your client is only just getting out of bed and beginning their morning routines. What are you supposed to do when you get an e-mail at one in the morning asking you for quick revisions on the project?
This week’s prompt is just like the last. Here are the rules one more time
Your response may be fact, fiction, a personal account or a memory, as long as it meets the above criteria. Your submission must be received by 11:59PM Central Standard Time (US – Chicago) on February 14, 2010.
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Indirect objects are tricky things, so they’re getting their own post. In the last installment, you learned about the English sentence structure (Subject->Verb->Object or SVO) and what each part of it means. Please read that post again (or for the first time) if you need a refresher.
There are two types of objects: direct and indirect. A direct object is the type discussed in the previous post. It is a second noun that receives the action taken by the subject. A sentence with a direct object can be summed up as A thing is doing something to another thing.
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The first prompt is as broad as possible. These are the requirements for the prompt
Your response may be fact, fiction, a personal account or a memory, as long as it meets the above criteria. Your submission must be received by 11:59PM Central Standard Time (US – Chicago) on February 6, 2010.
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Throughout the course of this blog, I’ll refer to items by their proper grammar names. This post deals with the most fundamental portions of the English language and the order they appear in sentences.
English is a Subject->Verb->Object (SVO) language. This can also be written as The thing that takes an action->the action that thing takes->the thing that is acted upon. Other languages, such as Japanese and Hindi, use the Subject->Object->Verb (SOV) framework. It is never acceptable to use the Subject->Object->Verb construction in English.
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Hi,
My name is Becky. I’m a mother of four, a wife and a freelance writer from the Chicago area. In my time as a writer, I’ve noticed some disturbing things. Firstly, writers, whether native English speakers or not, are more often than not grossly underpaid. There’s not much I can do about that other than encourage all writers to bid a little higher when applying for a contract.
The second, and more disturbing, trend is foreign-born writers are paid a substantially lower rate than native English speakers. If this sounds like you, congratulations! You’ve found a blog targeted specifically to you.
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