A Step in the Write Direction--January 7, 2013

A Step in the Write Direction

January 7, 2013

Update

Nothing special to report this week. Just the usual work: editing, proofreading, and our income taxes. (I do them every January 1 just to know what to expect, but don’t mail them until April 15.)

The only unusual events concerned my husband. He’s had multiple sores on his left leg from the ankle to the knee, and then they started appearing on the right leg. His regular doctor ordered antibiotics a couple of weeks ago which didn’t help so he sent him to a dermatologist Thursday who diagnosed it as a “severe case of eczema.” He now has cortisone salve….Then just for excitement, he took a fall in the front yard that night. Luckily most of him fell on the trash bag he was carrying, so he just has a scratched-up nose, some cuts on the forehead, and scraped-up knees. Never a dull moment with him!

Sad report for this week is that my dear friend, Eleanore Forder—Reg’s wife (of American Christian Writers)—was released from the hospital. The cancer is widespread, and there’ll be no treatment—just make her comfortable and give pain management. Hospice will help. Continue to remember both of them in prayer, especially Reg with the 10 or 12 conferences he has scheduled for this year.

Thought for Today:

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Laugh for Today:

A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like. "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"

Guest Blog:

From “New” Year to Eternity

Sandi Fischer

Standing at an airport gate, one witnesses the many emotions of “hellos” and “goodbyes”. Joyful smiles of greeting and happy embraces for arrivals; long kisses and tearful hugs for those departing. Life is hello. . .life is goodbye. It’s the constant tension of letting go and casting on. King Solomon put it this way: “everything has its season...a time to plant and a time to pluck up...a time to embrace and a time to refrain.” As we turn the page to a new year, we have a choice—to greet it with hope and joy, letting go of the past, or to keep standing at the gate, hanging onto “if onlys.”

As Time begins to write in our new year’s blank book, let us look to embrace one word—opportunity. Let us seek it on days when clouds veil its appearance and on days when it arrives skipping in the sunshine. Let us greet it as God’s way of allowing us to discover all the possibilities it holds. Solomon adds, “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” Talk about possibilities!

Somehow, as Time records our earthly journal, we sense there is a place of timelessness, a place of only “hellos,” a place the wise King says God has put in our hearts—a place called eternity. Until then, we can appreciate all the prospects a “new year” has to offer.

Writers’ Hints:

Following are notes I sent to an author after editing her manuscript. Perhaps they’ll help you too:

• Punctuation (periods, commas, etc.) goes inside quotations marks.
• Delete all bold and most of the all caps, unless needed for emphasis like STOP, DANGER.
• Delete most of the italics. They break your train of thought. I left in those that were needed to emphasize your thought. Quotations, dialogue, and Scripture verses don’t need to be in italics.
• No spaces before, between, and after ellipses…
• The only times single quotation marks are used are within another quotation.
• The places you had hyphens (other than in hyphenated words) should be what’s called em dashes, made either by typing two hyphens with no space before, between, or after, then when you type the next word and hit the space bar, it makes a dash. Or, in Word, you can make it by clicking on Ctrl, Alt, and the minus key on the number pad.

More of these hints next week.

Have a good week, everyone!

Donna

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"