Laurel Garver's Blog, page 26

Gifts for grammar lovers

Looking for the perfect little something for your editor, or the amazing crit partner who catches every last mistake? Never fear, the grammarian gift guide is here!

Let the world know to mind their there and they're usage. This nifty tote can be customized for the recipient. Available from the Grammar Police Zazzle shop.

Every great meal can be just a little more educational with grammar rules dishes. Available from grammarRULES!
This set of tea-themed grammatical mugs could only come from one p...

It began with a girl and a guitar (with Michelle D. Argyle)

How Out of Tune Has Changed My Writing Life
by Michelle D. Argyle

I first developed the idea for Out of Tune last November (2012). I’ve always wanted to write a book about a girl who plays the guitar. That was pretty much the only thing I had to go on when I first started figuring out what this girl’s story would be. For some reason, I wanted her to sing country music. That led into the idea that her parents were country music stars, and then … well, there always needs to be a problem in a stor...

Pour, pull, or prevail? Using rain, rein, and reign

Today we're tackling a set of fraternal triplets of language, the homophones rain, rein, and reign. Once again, I'll provide a definition, examples and mnemonic tricks to help you keep them straight.

rain image: http://guardian.co.uk
rain (n) - watery precipitation; water that has fallen from clouds, rainwater.

rain (v, intrans) rained, raining - to fall as water from clouds; to fall like rain; to send down rain

rain (v., trans) rained, raining - to pour or administer abundantly

Examples

Hugh n...

Now what? Four key strategies for getting unstuck

image credit: wikihow.comMaybe you're coming down off the high of "winning" NaNo, or you tried and gave up, or you're just doing the usual ___ words-per-day, and suddenly find you simply cannot write. You're stuck. Panic begins to creep in. You think, I'll never finish! I'm a boring, talentless hack. Or worse, you become mired in apathy. Who cares about this dumb story? Why bother?

Here are a few things you should NOT do when this happens:

Stick your head in an oven like Sylvia Plath.Delet...

Making space for a happier holiday season

I can't be the only one whose weekends are often full of chores, chores, a tiny bit of fun, and more chores. There ought to be a way to get out from under the weekly press of it so I have more balanced weekends. I'm realizing my family members' attention deficit issues mean most of the organizing falls to me, because I have the strongest skills. Let me tell you, it gets discouraging pretty quickly.

Years ago I picked up a couple of household organizing books, and as the holidays approach, it'...

Fundless, flowing or fixated: Using poor, pour, and pore

In this week's edition of Phonics Friday, we'll be tackling a trio of sound-alike words, all pronounced pȯr. We'll look at definitions, see the terms used in context, and learn some mnemonic (memory) devices to keep them straight.

image credit: hotblack at morguefile.comWhy bother? If you accidentally swap one of these legitimate words for another, spell check won't help you. It can't discern context, but merely if a certain combination of letters appears in its dictionary.

Poor poor (adj....

A little bit country...

It's launch day for Michelle Davidson Argyle's Out of Tune, a New Adult novel about the country music business. Michelle will be back next month to talk writing with us, but for now, here's a teaser!


EXCERPT - OUT OF TUNE by: Michelle D. Argyle

Cole’s steady beat on the drum relaxed her. She could feel his eyes on her as she played, but she did not turn around. He would never know what this meant to her. She had wanted and dreaded this moment forever. She could only imagine what tomorrow would...

How I Create Characters

by Crystal Collier
author of Moonless
One of my earliest memories was of snuggling up in my blankets, leaning on my pillow, and listening with rapt attention as my oldest brother told stories of “Super Goober.” He started a culture of storytelling among my seven siblings and I, a custom passed from the oldest to youngest.
I was the splitting point, the middle child. It was up to me to pick up where the older siblings left off. Because of that, I started telling my own stories. My youngest brothe...

DNF: Top ten reasons I stop reading

I admit it. I'm starting to give up on books more often than I used to. A wise friend of mine has a rule of thumb about finishing books: "if you're under 30, give every book 100 pages to hook you. If you're over 30, give it 50." I think she understands the natural impatience of youth, and the often natural stick-to-it-iveness of maturity. Sometimes we need to give authors a chance, sometimes we need to cut our losses and move on.

As I've set aside a few books, I got thinking about what makes m...

In the dining room, stockroom, or art room? Using palate, pallet, and palette

It's Phonics Friday once again, and today we'll be tackling a trio of sound-alike nouns, all pronounced pal-it, that are used in quite different contexts.

Let's take a look at definitions, see the terms used in context, and learn some mnemonic (memory) devices to keep the terms straight.

Why bother? If you accidentally swap one of these legitimate words for another, spell check won't help you. It can't discern context, but merely if a certain combination of letters appears in its dictionary.

Pal...