Tag: writer's workshop
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Free Writer’s Workshop Wednesday: Homophones
This Wednesday’s Writer’s Workshop is all about Homophones Ah, homophones. Funny word for a confusing topic. Homophones are a strange nuance in the English language, that even native speakers struggle with. Some of these homophones occur so frequently in writing, and it’s a glaring error. Whether you’re submitting a piece to an editor or a…
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Writer’s Workshop Wednesday: The Five Paragraph Essay
I have taught the basic five paragraph essay for years. It always surprises me when students get so worried and worked up about a basic essay because if you know the organization of the essay, there’s really nothing to fear. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a piece of writing consisting of five paragraphs that…
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Project NaNoWriMo: Getting Started
It’s the first day of NaNoWriMo! I’m so excited, I can hardly stand it. I hope this enthusiasm carries me through the next 30 days, because I know it’s going to get really hard once I’m up to my eyeballs in words and self-doubt. (Because self-doubt is very, VERY real.) I thought I’d share with…
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Free Writer’s Workshop Wednesday: Literary Devices
We are back with another Writer’s Workshop! This will be the last installment until December as I’m going to take a break for NaNoWriMo, but I thought we dive into some pretty deep writing waters! It’s time to take your writing to the next level, people. To go from just “okay”, to “pretty darn good”…
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Free Writer’s Workshop Wednesday: The Parts of Speech
Let’s for once and for all, break up any confusion about the parts of speech. The phrase “Parts of Speech” simply refers to the names we give to each word in the English language, depending on what it is. Each part of speech performs a distinct job in a sentence. There are eight Parts of…
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Free Writer’s Workshop Wednesday: To Be or Not to Be
One of the most common verbs within the English language is the verb “to be.” This linking verb does nothing more than explain a state of “being” whether in the past, present, or future tense. The Two Ways of Using “To Be” It can be used on its own as a linking verb: The cat…
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The Free Writer's Workshop Wednesday: Combining Sentences
As a teacher, I have seen my fair share of essays, stories, and papers. Some are good, some are bad, and some are very, very ugly. But there is one type of paper I find painfully frustrating: the B paper. The B Paper The B paper is easy to spot: very limited punctuation mistakes, adequate…
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Free Writer’s Workshop Wednesday: Brainstorming
Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any. – Orson Scott Where do your ideas come from? Writer’s often get asked that question as if they have a magical pool that provides them with limitless ideas…
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Writer's Workshop Wednesday: Object Complements
Today’s workshop takes a look at object complements and how to identify them within a sentence. (Just in case Direct Objects and Indirect Objects weren’t confusing enough.) What is it? An object complement is a noun or adjective that occurs after the direct object. It renames or modifies the object How is it used? The…
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Free Writer’s Workshop Wednesday: Dialogue
Dialogue is a crucial part of any story and moves the plot along in many ways: plot development, character traits, pacing, etc. Yet, if dialogue is so important, why is it often so hard? Tips for Writing Dialogue Listen to How People Talk In order for dialogue to sound real, it should sound how real…
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