Night kisses my lips. /
Day whispers in my tired ear. /
Must I leave you now?
Haiku to you Thursday: “Night kisses”
Night kisses my lips. /
Day whispers in my tired ear. /
Must I leave you now?
Filed under Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
Writing tip Wednesday: “‘Then’ is not a conjunction”
PenPal says: The word “then” is NOT a conjunction.
Jonathan Franzen, author of Freedom, The Corrections, Strong Motion, and The Twenty-Seventh City, says the following:
“Never use the word ‘then’ as a conjunction —- we have ‘and’ for this purpose. Substituting ‘then’ is the lazy or tone-deaf writer’s non-solution to the problem of too many ‘ands’ on the page.”
EXAMPLE I:
Incorrect: Sally filed her long, dangerous nails, then went to see the movie Sling Blade.
Correct: Sally filed her long, dangerous nails and then went to see the movie Sling Blade.
EXAMPLE II:
Incorrect: Buford put on his black tie with yellow kitties, then got scared of what Vera would think and replaced it with a yellow tie with green frogs.
Correct: Buford put on his black tie with yellow kitties, but when he considered what Vera might think, he replaced it with a yellow tie with green frogs.
In Example I, the addition of the word “and” and removal of the comma corrects the sentence.
In Example II, revised and more creative wording corrects the sentence.
EXERCISE: Read through a current story or article you are working on and circle the word “then” each time it appears. Now read back through to make sure each “then” is used correctly. If you find it used incorrectly as a conjunction, repair the sentence structure with either of the methods above. Strive to correct 90% of these errors with more creative wording rather than the simple addition of “and.”
________
Cathy Kodra a/k/a PenPal
About PenPal…
Cathy Kodra works as an independent editor in Knoxville, TN. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Roanoke Review, New Millennium Writings, Common Ground Review, Now & Then, Cavalier Literary Couture, Slow Trains, Still Crazy, The Medulla Review, Prime Mincer, Yemassee, and others. She is a contributing editor for New Millennium Writings and past guest poetry editor for The Medulla Review. She was first runner up in Prime Mincer’s 2011 Poetry Contest, judged by Rodney Jones, and took first place in the 2012 Old Gray Cemetery Poetry Contest. Cathy’s first poetry chapbook, Thin Ice, was published in 2011 by Medulla Publishing.
Cathy is a member of the Knoxville Writers’ Guild and of two local writing groups. An avid reader and writer, she is currently working on two poetry collections and a collection of short stories. Her hobbies include gardening and vegan cooking, and she lives happily with her husband Ron, two dogs, and a cat. She can be reached at www.cathykodra.com.
Filed under Writing Tip Wednesday
cARtOONSDAY: nO rESPECT: “eNLIGHTENMENT”
The light of my words.
I’m a writer and I don’t get no respect. My wife held our first cook out over Memorial Day weekend, but it almost didn’t happen. She couldn’t get the coals to light. Then she did. And just before the guests arrived. After the cook out, I asked her what she’d used. She said she used one of my novels.
Filed under cartoon by author, CarToonsday, no respect
Monday morning writing joke: “Road well traveled”
1st person: Why did the author cross the road?
2nd person: I don’t know, why?
1st person: To catch the agent on the other side.
2nd person: Why did the agent cross the road?
1st: To catch the editor on the other side.
2nd: And why did the editor cross the road?
1st: To catch the publisher on the other side.
2nd: Okay, then why did the publisher cross the road?
1st: He was following the chicken.
And why did the writer cross the road?
Filed under Monday morning writing joke, Photo by author
Limerick time: “Joy”
There once was a woman named Joy.
All her neighbors she did nothing be annoy.
Such a termagant!
Her hours were always spent
Haranguing all who came into her employ.
Filed under limerick, poetry by author
New word: “crumpify”
First Saturday of the month. Time for new words to live by. Once a month on the first Saturday of each month, I will list a new word. This is NOT a word you are likely to find in the dictionary. It is a new word, often a portmanteau word, sometimes just a new word not made from merging two other words. Some of the previous words have included: obsurd, a combination of obscure and absurd, obscure absurdity means something obsurd. These new words might even be considered an exercise in obsurdity.
Here now is the new word.
Crumpify: v., to crumple something multiple times or in multiple ways, so as to leave it in a multiple crumpled state. It can still be useable in this state, but is often seen as a transitional state to something better.
For example: “If I crumpify my car enough, maybe my parents will buy me the sports car I always wanted.”
Crumpified: adj., the condition of being in a state of crumpification, i.e., multiple crumples.
For example: On Monday, Joey found the crumpified gum he had stuck under his school desk on Friday. He peeled it off, popped it into his mouth and chewed on it for a several minutes until it was soft again. It had lost some of its flavor, but he could still blow a bubble with the double-wad he had started off with.
Filed under new word, New words to live by
Haiku to you Thursday: “Parts”
Morning parts with rain: /
wet into dry, past from now, /
life touched and not touched.
Filed under Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
cARtOONSDAY: “a nEW mE”
Even your life story might need a revision.
Filed under cartoon by author, CarToonsday
Photo Finish Friday: “Elvis and Marilyn”
Elvis and Marilyn hanging out at the local pizzeria.
Marilyn and Elvis were hanging out at the local pizzeria on a Friday night, debating which one was best: the Hawaiian or the new Reuben pizza.
“Ain ith goof ta be deed?” Marilyn asked, balancing a slice of pizza on her tongue and doing her best not to spill any of the sauce on her white dress. She was waiting to meet her blind date, some guy named Arthur who claimed to be a playwright.
“One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four don’t you know, that sauce better not get on my blue suede shoes,” Elvis said.
“I said, ain’t it good to be dead?”
“That’s better, honey,” Elvis said, “Love me tender, love me true.”
The microphone did not appear to be working. It was there and that was all.
“We can hang out in places like this, put pizza on our tongues, and no one pays us any mind. We’re just a couple of crazy look-a-likes to the rest of the world.”
“But you got a date coming. All I got is my guitar,” Elvis said.
The bell above the door to the pizzeria jingled indicating somebody was coming inside. They both looked. If it was a live person, neither one would be able to see him or her. Not directly, anyway. Only an after image and only after a few minutes. It was the way things worked when you were dead.
They saw no one. They were all alone. Elvis and Marilyn. She put the slice of pizza on her tongue. It was the same slice she had most nights. She wasn’t hungry, so she never ate it, never even tried. That’s the way it was when you were dead.
[Author’s note: Photo finish Friday is a photo something around where I live that I think might be a good writing prompt. I try to include something written with the photo. If the photo inspires you to write something, please do. Please remember that all material is mine and respect the copyright of it. Thank you.]
Filed under Photo by author, Photo Finish Friday, Story by author
Haiku to you Thursday: “Her eyes”
Her eyes saw wonder, /
a world defiant of his. /
His beheld sadness.
Filed under Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
