Monday Muddle: you’re, your

If you say “you’re welcome”, you are usually acknowledging someone’s thanks. If you say “your welcome”, you are indicating that the welcome belongs to someone or was given by someone. For example: Your welcome of us was heartwarming.

Monday Muddle: you’re: (subject pronoun + verb) contraction of the words “you” and “are”. your: (possessive pronoun) indicates that you own something; it belongs to you.

Wednesday Writing

Writers need readers, and readers need writers.

[Alt Text:

There’s a brand new source for readers to get free and discounted books. 

You provide your email address and choose the genres you like to read. 

Every Friday, they send you a list of books you might like. 

You download your books from Amazon. (More retailers are coming soon.)

Sign up at https://www.hellobooks.com

I did!]

Tuesday Two

Write a story with only two sentences. Use the photo for inspiration if you wish.

Photo by Sophie The Laya Yogis on Unsplash.

A row of statues on Easter Island. They are large limbless torsos with elongated heads.

Monday Muddle: woman, women

In honour of International Women’s Day, I thought it would be good to sort out the confusion between woman and women. If this little memory trick helps, please feel free to use it. The letter A is the first letter of the alphabet—letter number ONE. So if you are talking about only one woman, use an A. The letter E comes later in the alphabet, so more than one. E also looks like a backwards 3 which is also more than one. If you are talking about multiple women, use an E.

Monday Muddle: woman: (n) ONE singular female human women: (n) MORE THAN ONE female human

Wednesday Writing

Although it is an editor’s job to catch all of your mistakes and omissions, editors are still human. The more overwhelmed they are with all the little things that you could have fixed yourself, the less energy they will have for the things you wouldn’t have caught. Help them to help you by making your manuscript as clean as possible.

A red pen against a white page with this caption: The Value of Self-Editing The cleaner you can make your manuscript before sending it to an editor, the better job your editor will do for you, and the less money it will cost.