Writer’s Blog

Guest Post: How to Stay Motivated When You’re Not Making Progress

I was recently featured on Bryan Hutchinson’s blog talking about the writing process and staying motivated.

Writer’s block is real. Every writer, at one point or another, has experienced this debilitating inability to make any real progress in his or her work.

Like a 17th century galleon in the equatorial doldrums, we endure a bout of creative stillness, when productivity starves to death in a windless mental seascape where nothing is visible on any horizon.

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How to Start Your Own Blog

If you’re reading this, you are probably wondering how to start a blog. If so, you’re in the right place! In this post, I have put together a step-by-step guide to starting your own blog online, with detailed instructions, illustrations—even a free e-book that will help you get started.

I have been blogging for many years. I know the ins and outs of what to do and, more importantly, what not to do. If you follow this how-to guide step-by-step, you will be on your way to starting a successful blog in no time. I only wish I had a resource like this when I started blogging years ago.

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80 Slang Words for Money: List of Slang Terms for Money

Few things get more attention it seems than money. People use it every day—sometimes multiple times a day.

People plan where they live around money, where they travel around money, where they work around money, and where they retire around money.

Since money is an essential tool that most people cannot live without, it has developed a rich and colorful bank of slang terms in which to be described.

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Audible – Listen to Books on the Go

I commuted to work for years, sometimes by walking, sometimes by driving, and sometimes by taking the subway.

My problem was I never knew what to do with the time I spent traveling to and from work each day.

Now, if you live only a few miles from work, you may have never given this a second thought, but at various times in the last few years, I commuted as much as 2-3 hours a day. I wasn’t getting that time back, and I also wasn’t getting paid for it.

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Is Is a Verb? Is the Word Is a Verb?

Recently, I have received a number of questions about the word is. Is is a verb? Is it a preposition? Is it a noun? What exactly is its function in a sentence?

In this post, I will cover everything you need to know about this word and its function in the English sentence. After reading this article, you won’t ever again wonder to yourself, “Is the word is a verb?”

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What is Alliteration? Definition and Examples of Alliteration in Writing

Alliteration only occurs when consonant (not vowel) sounds are repeated in words close to each other. These words may be within the same phrase, clause, or sentence, or they may occur on successive lines (as in poetry or lyrics).

Tongue twisters are a well-known use of alliteration.

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How to Quote a Quote: Single Quotation Marks

A few different readers have written in to me asking how to quote a quote within a quote. Sounds like a mouthful, doesn’t it?

This is a topic that has almost certainly confused each and every one of us in our reading and writing at some point or another. When do we use single quotes? Where does the punctuation go in single quotes?

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Happy National Punctuation Day

For those who are not aware, today is National Punctuation Day.

That’s right! Every year, on September 24, writers, readers, editors, and publishers get together to celebrate one of the most important elements of written language: punctuation.

Jeff Rubin founded national Punctuation Day in 2004, and the day promotes…

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95 Synonyms for Difficult: List of Difficult Synonyms and Definitions

As writers, it is incredibly important to be able to communicate the same thought or emotion in several different ways—and to do so in a meaningful way. When an author uses a vague word or is too repetitive in language, it doesn’t help to engage the reader. More often than not…

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Evoke vs. Invoke: What’s the Difference?

While these two words aren’t quite homophones or homonyms, they still sound similar enough to cause some confusion—especially since we don’t use them on a daily basis. So what exactly is the difference between evoke and invoke? In this post, we’ll talk about their differences and give you a few ways to remember the difference between evoke vs. invoke.

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May vs. Might: What’s the Difference?

The two words may and might cause a lot of confusion in English and many writers aren’t sure when to use which one. A lot of people use them interchangeably, especially in speech, but is there really no difference between the two?

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Guest Post: Improving Written Communication Skills

I was recently featured on Jones Loflin‘s blog talking about ways to improve your written communication skills.

Candidates must have strong written communication skills.

If you are filling out job applications or searching for a promotion within your own company, you’ve almost certainly seen this. Or, perhaps you’re the one doing the hiring, and you’ve listed it as a requirement for an opening in your department.

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 Inquiry vs. Enquiry: What’s the Difference?

There are so many words in English that are either so similar to each other in spelling and pronunciation or their meanings are so close to each other that it’s almost impossible to tell them apart. This is the case…

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Ad vs. Add: What’s the Difference?

Here we have another set of confusing words. It’s not uncommon to see confusing words in English, so don’t get frustrated if you aren’t exactly sure when to use ad vs. add or you aren’t sure which one is correct…

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Principal vs. Principle: What’s the Difference?

Principal and principle are another set of homophones, which, despite sounding identical in their pronunciation, have completely different meanings. They are among the ranks of to, too, and two and there, their, and they’re. But what are their differences? In…

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Acumen vs. Acuity vs. Acuteness: What’s the Difference?

Every once in a while there is a set of words that are just close enough to each other, whether in spelling, meaning, or pronunciation that we forget which is which. Such is the case with acumen vs. acuity vs. acuteness.…

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Deceased vs. Diseased: What’s the Difference?

English has a lot of confusing words in it. Some words are spelled the same with different meanings, some words are spelled differently but pronounced the same, and some words are spelled differently and pronounced differently, but they look and…

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Awhile vs. A While: What’s the Difference?

It can be difficult to remember the difference between awhile and a while. They are awfully close in their appearance—separated by just one tiny space. Plus, you don’t really have conversational clues to aid you because they sound indistinguishable when…

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