Being a Better Writer: The Ellipses and the Em-dash, Odd Forms of Punctuation

~ Cathy Cade ~ 5 Comments

This is a useful article on ellipses and m-dashes. I’ve been told I use too many of both, so I’m trying to give them up, but this will point you in the right direction.
Both are sometimes applied differently in the UK – I tend to put a space each side of my dashes when used as an alternative to parentheses (and they are n-dashes rather than m-dashes, as applied automatically by MS Word) but the important thing is to be make your choice and be consistent, as emphasised in this post.

Unusual Things

Welcome back readers! I hope you had, if from the US, a successful and interesting 4th of July, and if not from the US, a solid weekend! I did. For starters, my friends and I gathered and watched all of Season 3 of Netflix’s Stranger Things. I won’t spoil anything (obviously, I mean, come on) but I will say that I think it’s better than the second season. Mostly because they fixed the largest flaw with the second season, which was some weak pacing in the last few episodes. Here everything is much more tightly bound together, and there’s never really a single moment where even if you feel like you can stop that you want to.

So yeah, it’s really good. I do recommend. Next, there are only a few hours left in the Independence Day Sale! By tomorrow, it’ll no longer be available, so if you…

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Who are you today?

~ Cathy Cade ~ 9 Comments

I read this poignant post today and wanted to share it.

stumble upon serendipity

Image result for stranger

Who are you today?

I often wonder

Have you geared up to tackle blunt realities or are you still clouded by conspiracy theories?

Are you still a cosy armchair expert or are you jumping into the field and getting your hands dirty?

Is your full-time job what you’d like to do in leisure? Perhaps, you published the comics, that the seven-year-old you unleashed on walls and chart paper alike.

If genetics wins the Nature vs Nurture debate, then perhaps you’ve found your safe haven in education. I bet you’re raising hell by inspiring your students to rebel.

I hope you’ve embraced your awkward self and still happily flail on the dance floor, fumble song lyrics and stay wary of glass.

I pray you still get lost, every now and then, and go through a memorable adventure to find your way back. Who knows? Maybe those days are long gone and…

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