I was into my sixties when I began writing. Most successful writers took half a lifetime to hone their craft. Us silver scribblers have less time to smooth out those wrinkles in our writing that identify an apprentice wordsmith. This blog is about my own writing wrinkles. (You may prefer to call them laughter-lines but … Continue reading Laughter Lines
Another One I Made Earlier
I've just added Postcard from Malta to Commaful – a quick read with pictures. Photo by Artur Roman on Pexels.comThis was my response to a short writing group challenge at a time when we had other tasks to complete around Where the Wild Winds Blow, the anthology we are about to self-publish. Our responses to … Continue reading Another One I Made Earlier
Puzzling It Out
I confess to being a puzzle addict. I started with codeword-type logic puzzles until I discovered sudoku and its variants. Since I retired, I tackle anything that looks interesting: puzzles I would previously have dismissed as too challenging and time-wasting. Guess what? They weren’t as demanding as I’d thought. Learning to write … Continue reading Puzzling It Out
Together
Of all the burrows in all the riverbanks in all the world, she had come to his. Another quick flash on Commaful A self-indulgence - I enjoy playing with layout and pictures for these. This story was another challenge from our writing group - all explained in a comment at the end of the … Continue reading Together
Now for Something Completely Different
After a blog full of commas, here’s another Commaful diversion. Commaful website is running a fantasy story contest; you can find details at https://commaful.com/contests/fantasy2018/ Judging is by readers’ votes, and there’s no monetary prize – just postings on Commaful’s social media channels. I’ve posted a story-verse about the Mirlings (little scaled people with gills who live … Continue reading Now for Something Completely Different
Where Commas Fear to Tread
What a comma CAN’T do ‘Not commas again’, I hear you groan. Well... yes, because I promised (or threatened) a post about semicolons. Semicolons step in where commas (should) fear to tread. Editors frown when two independent clauses (or complete sentences, if you prefer) are joined by a comma. They call this a comma splice... WRONG … Continue reading Where Commas Fear to Tread
A Diversion
Challenges from Chris Fielden and Friends I’ve been following Chris Fielden’s website for many moons, at https://www.christopherfielden.com/ and have twice entered short stories in his annual To Hull and Back competitions. It’s a lighthearted and responsive website. Chris is generous with advice, offering listings of current competitions and advice about entering them, among other things. Since I first … Continue reading A Diversion
Life of a Lady magazine
I enjoyed this post from Ernestine Marsh at https://alwaysalaugh.com/
I know my writing group will too – looking forward to more.
Dear Aunty Jean,
I am writing to ask if you believe in curses. I know that seems like a strange question, but I have had such a run of bad luck, that you wouldn’t believe it.
I was a very wealthy window of 76 before meeting my new husband while on holiday in the Bahamas. I couldn’t believe that he was attracted to me, being an Adonis of 23. He was a waiter at the hotel I was staying at and could have had any girl he wanted, but he took one look at me and said it was love at first sight for him!
We had a whirlwind romance and were married before my holiday was over. We went straight on to Paris for our honeymoon, briefly stopping in London so I could change my will with my solicitor.
It was in Paris that this bad luck began. My…
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Commaful
Just a quickie... I found a new site yesterday - new to me, anyway. It's called commaful. You post stories or poems or just random thoughts and add pictures (supplied by the site). It's best used for shortish works - I added a twenty-line verse I haven't looked at for ages (but it's the shortest … Continue reading Commaful
Roome Bay
It’s too hot for thinking up blog posts. Summer is for reading… on the beach. Well, maybe not the beach – not this year anyway. This year our motorhome trips have given way to hospital appointments as my husband awaits a major operation. We daren’t stray for too long in case another appointment arrives, requiring … Continue reading Roome Bay
Comma Conclusion, Part 4
I thought I knew about commas before I started looking into them. It’s been a learning curve. I’ve recently revisited some of my short stories, and there have been a lot of changes. This concluding article in the series tidies up some odds and ends in situations where commas confuse. But, and other little words that … Continue reading Comma Conclusion, Part 4
