FaithWriters.com-Christian Writers Forum

Homework to follow as able. (I'm on a midnight deadline.)

Santa Clause! :oops: Don’t get me started on lawyers and spell checkers. It’s summary judgment, not summery judgment; germaneness test, not germanness test; AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, public forum doctrine, not pubic forum doctrine. (And, no, I was not any of those lawyers!) As for your suggestion on the...

Jan, It’s sooooo good to see your lessons back! I wasn’t sure whether the 100 word limit was for the excerpt and the comments or just the comments. I sure hope it was the latter. Excerpt: ____________________ “You know, I hate Christmas cards.” “What! Are you a Communist?” “Ha, ha, ha. I think that ...

Interesting, Steve--care to share those first three sentences? OK. But I have to tell a bit of a story about it or you may think I don’t understand what is "wrong" with the original version. I hope I don’t take this beyond people’s interest level: The original idea that came to me was of ...

Favorite title: I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven Question: What about the notion that a story flows out of its first line? A first sentence: Beneath the gaze of neon dragons, I found the horror of my soul. Jim, sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you--this is a crazy week in m...

I couldn't find any references for (...). Maybe someone else will? This link represents my take on ellipses and is exactly what I taught for 10 years to law students (even though I did not then know of this page). This page is from someone else who teaches law students, but the rules given here are...

I just got back from court to discover this pleasant surprise. Thanks!

glorybee wrote:Thanks, Steve!

Do you have anything to add about writing "to the topic"?

No, I think you nailed it, and comments by other posters have also been helpful.

Deconut wrote:Thanks Jan, as a writing teacher you get an A+.

Haven't been in your class lately (except as a lurker), but couldn't resist dropping in to say "Amen!"

I've never heard the "drowned" example used. We do have some unusual colloquialisms in my neck of the the woods tho. "Will you carry me to the store?" means, "Will you give me ride?" "I had my picture made" means, "I had photos taken of me." "W...

4. Don’t use a dialog tag at all. “Have you seen Piper’s adorable blonde fluff?” “Jan, you're just a teensy bit obnoxious about that baby.” Tagless dialog will move your story right along, and will save you precious words. If you do this, be sure that your reader can keep track of each speaker by a...

It seems to me that your request for suggestions as to how we write outside the box could use a little meat on the bones, so I will give examples from my entries. Then I’ll apply that to the homework. I hope this helps folks, but I don’t want to make this a “read Steve’s writing” thread hijack, so I...

Fundraising and legal writing are so far under my radar, they're practically subterranean, so I really appreciate your insight into the norms there. The examples of legal writing and fundraising letters are not going to be of much use to folks here, but I used fundraising (especially) as an example...

I know this class is geared towards basics, but as beginning, intermediate, and even advanced writers search for advice, read "how to" books, or attend seminars; we need to remember to keep this in the back of our minds. In what field or fields do the advice givers have experience? Are th...

I use too many exclamations in e-mails--forum threads--personal letters to FAMILY and Close friends--Just not formal writing of any kind, hopefully. Interesting point. It's all about genres and their conventions. After leaving the law school where I had taught for 10 years, I sent a fundraising pac...