March 10 is Young Writers’ Day in Alabama

I thought this was pretty cool: in Alabama, Gov. Bob Riley has declared that March 10 is Young Writers’ Day.   The news story I found on it doesn’t give the reasoning for it, and there are no press releases on it either, but if you’re living in Alabama, you’re young and you write, then today is your day.

Does it mean anything?  Heck no.  But it’s better than the typical Wednesday.

Source

Eat Healthy or Healthily?

The phrase “eat healthy” gets thrown around a lot these days.  It’s what people say when talking to one another, and you find it in pamphlets and books.  But here’s a curve-ball for you: “eat healthy” is bad grammar.
Surprised?  It comes down to basic sentence construction.  The word “healthy” is an adjective.  The word “eat” [...]

Make Yourself Safe on Facebook

Facebook doesn’t have much to do with writing, but I’m pretty sure that anyone who reads this blog also has a Facebook account.
Now, a lot of people who use Facebook also like to use the applications associated with it.  The most popular one going around right now is “Grade Your Parents” which gives your parents [...]

So you want to be a co-author, eh?

Writing a short story or novel with someone else is something that can not only be a lot of fun but is also a great learning experience.  Over time, we develop a writing style and eventually we get trapped into that writing style.  This has a lot of advantages, but it has some disadvantages too [...]

Quotation Marks & Punctuation (aka USA v. UK)

The Brits and Yanks don’t just differ on the spelling of certain words, but also on whether or not to place punctuation inside or outside of quotation marks. Take the following example:

The sign read, “Yield to Kangaroos.” (American Style) OR
The sign read, “Yield to Kangaroos”. (British Style)

The British Style is also called the Logical [...]

Is it plagiarism?

Fortunately, incidences of plagiarism don’t really pop up much on the Young Writers Society. When they do, it’s usually just a misunderstanding. For example, new members frequently confuse the Lyrics section as a place to post the lyrics of your favorite songs (as opposed to lyrics you write). As long as someone [...]

Twilight Spoof from SNL

I haven’t watched Saturday Night Live (an American sketch comedy show) in a long time, but this is hilarious (featuring Taylor Swift!):

Why You Should Review

I think one of the hardest things for people to get over when they first join a writing site is the hesitance to critique someone else’s work.   The reason behind the hesitance varies from person to person of course, but it’s there all the same.  And for some of us, it may continue for [...]

Best Books of 2009

It’s already starting: the best book lists of 2009.  Amazon has a numbered list, and Publishers Weekly has an unnumbered list (except for the top 10).  I started reading The Boy Who Harnessed Wind lately, and I’m glad to see Amazon ranked it number 10 overall.  It’s a good book.
What’s your favorite book that came [...]

When Reviewing, Brevity is the Soul of Wit

On the Young Writers Society, there is much focus on the length of the review rather than inherent quality.  I’m not talking about new members who write long reviews in the hope of getting more points.  Rather, I’m talking about old members who go on and on in their review.
What is the goal of reviewing?  [...]