Monday, December 6, 2010

Words and Stuff

My dear friend Sarah (who just asked me to be in her wedding by the way <smiley>), recently started back up her blog, A Room of One's Ow(e)n.  Of course, I love the fact that she says I inspired her to get writing again - along with the fact that she was just bored one night when her fiancĂ©e was teaching at the prison - but I also love her knack for writing with action verbs. In Mr. Shoup's Yearbook class he often challenged us to rewrite sentences with a more active voice than passive (he also taught us to check, recheck and check again the spelling of someone's name.  As you can see in my first post, I spelled this very man's name incorrectly.)  I feel (passive) as though I write passively too much.  Sarah is full of active action...and I want (passive) to, too! I should mention that Sarah is an English teacher. Her career life is dedicated to words and stuff, but that doesn't mean I can't seek to improve.  

I dusted (action) off a box full of old journals and books about creative writing and pulled out this little gem, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg (Published in 1986. Surely not too much evolution in writing has occurred (damn passive voice) since then.)  I found this book at a massive book sale when I lived in Seattle, and it claims to "free the writer within."  Game on...let's give it a whirl!
***MOOSE UPDATE***
Getting a little antsy because my walking commitment wanes with the dropping temperatures outside.  Still a very GOOD BOY!

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