August Writing Challenges: Day 16 - That Was Then

August. The summer is nearly over. Kids are going back to school. You now have some time on your hands.  Okay, you still have a list of chores a mile long, but let's put writing at the top of the priority list, okay?

I am going to challenge you with a writing prompt every day this month. Are you up for it? I hope so.

The writing challenges will be about a variety of topics and hopefully cause you to dig into your writing toolbox to complete with emotional skill.

Watch out, I just might throw in a fun one, well, just for fun!

For the sixteenth challenge we're going to travel back in time and have some fun with a history writing challenge.

Here is your challenge:
What is the period of history that you identify with most? The flappers of the American 1920's? The royal family during the War of the Roses? Choose one of these or your own particular period of time and write about a day you lived during that time.

TIP: History is defined as a time that that takes place in past times (usually more than fifty years ago.)

If you want to expand this challenge, you can also do research on the time in history you've chosen and delve deep into the what/who/when/how/why of the events at that time and how they affected your character.

I hope you enjoy this challenge.

August Writing Challenges: Day 6 - Memories

August. The summer is nearly over. Kids are going back to school. You now have some time on your hands.  Okay, you still have a list of chores a mile long, but let's put writing at the top of the priority list, okay?

I am going to challenge you with a writing prompt every day this month. Are you up for it? I hope so.

The writing challenges will be about a variety of topics and hopefully cause you to dig into your writing toolbox to complete with emotional skill.

Watch out, I just might throw in a fun one, well, just for fun!

For the sixth challenge we're going to go back in time:

Here is your challenge:

Take a time from your life (or imagine time) that you were bullied at school. Who was the bully and how did he or she affect you? Imagine a sit down chat with the bully in which the person could not bully you and had to share his or her feelings. What do you thing you would learn?

If this challenge is too personal or triggers some past trauma issues, please don't use it. Here is an alternate challenge:

Describe your first school crush or your first school significant other. What was it like? How did you feel walking around the school and possibly having people talk about you? Feel fee to talk about the entire relationship.


Going back in time and remembering events in your life can be easy or hard. Some memories come easily, while others are fuzzy and hard to remember. That's okay. That's life. The best thing about writing a memoir, is you get to re-write your story.

I hope you find this challenge helpful.

Friday Writing Prompt - Time

Here we are, it's Friday again and time for the Friday Writing Prompt. Today we are going to write about Time. Use the following "Time" prompt to stimulate those writing juices and maybe even come up with a possibility for a short story or essay.

"If you could fast forward ahead or rewind backwards to any point in your life, what would it be and why? Be very detailed about how you deal with this second chance or sneak peek."

Did this prompt help you? Why or why not? Were you able come up with a response for the prompt? Did you find it easy or hard to come up with a second chance in your life? Have you ever thought about taking a sneak peek at the future? Would you like a second chance at some event in the past?
Why or why not? Did you find this exercise easy or hard? Were you able to expand upon it into a short story or essay? Why or why not?

Please let me know in the comments below.

Happy Writing!

What is the Least You Should Know - Confused Words

What is the Least You Should Know -- Confused Words

We all do it from time to time, get a word mixed up with another. We type fast. Our minds are processing so fast. Our fingers have a mind of their own. I've done it. I've seen WAY too many examples of it on the Internet. Especially in all those posters people pass around on Facebook.

Now, that's a place to screw up. There are so many grammar cops on Facebook, they come out of the Internet woodwork just to point out how you made a mistake and how you should never make that mistake again and how awful you are to have made the mistake. Yeah, I've seen them.

Well, I'm going to help you with distinguishing between the right word and the wrong word and how to use the proper word when writing. There are many words out there that can confuse you. I offered you a few ways to misspell words in my last post. Let's see which ones are most commonly confused and we'll go from there.

Lead, Led                                
The past form of the verb is led.
I led the race in the marathon on Tuesday.
The present form is lead, which rhymes with bead. (Don't confuse it with the metal lead, which rhymes with dead.)
I will lead the race today.

Loose, Lose                            
Loose means "not tight".
The screw is too loose for me to tighten it properly.
The other one, lose, has a "z" sound.
We are going to lose the game.

Moral, Morale                          
Moral has to do with right and wrong. Morale means "the spirit of a group or an individual". Pronounce them correctly and you won't confuse them. Moral is a short sounding word. With the emphasis on "Mor-" while Morale is a long sounding word with the emphasis on "-ale".
That was an interesting moral question.
The morale of the troops needed improvement.

Passed, Past                              
Passed is a verb.
He passed the house he was supposed to visit.
Use past when it's not a verb.
He walked past the house he was supposed to visit. (It's the same as "He walked by the house...", so you know it isn't a verb.)
John is living in the past.
Don't rely on your past reputation.

Peace, Piece
Remember "piece of pie". The one meaning "a piece of something" always begins with pie.
I gave him a piece of my mind.
The last piece to the puzzle is missing.
The other one, peace, is the opposite of war.
They signed the peace treaty.
Wanda attempted to keep the peace in the loud house.

Personal, Personnel
Pronounce these two correctly, and you won't confuse them -- Personal is emphasizing "Per-", while Personnel is emphasizing "-nel".
Personal has to do with emotions or feelings, or belonging to someone, while Personnel has to do with people.
He had a personal interest in the story in the paper.
She was in charge of personnel at her company.


Can you find the correct word for each of the following ten sentences?

1. We wanted to go for a walk (threw through) the woods but couldn't decide (were where) to start.

2. Finally we went (passed past) the university to a good trail I (knew, new) about.

3. It's not (to too) far from the university in a (peace piece) of virgin timber where it's always (quiet quite.)

4. Since (it's its) the (principal, principle) trail in the University Preserve, it's impossible to (loose lose) one's way.

5. The path is made of (coarse course) wood chips and is easy to walk on in any (weather whether).

6. It was a cool day, and before long we were (conscience conscious) that we should (have of) brought sweaters.

7. (There They're) are more birds (there their) (than then) in most woods.

8. We looked at (quiet quite) a number through (are our) binoculars.

9. The path (lead led) us a long way into the woods and (than then) back.

10. We were away only for (a an) hour -- exactly the (right write) length of time.

Be careful when finding the correct word. I've added some zingers in here that we didn't discuss. Can you still choose the correct word to complete the sentences?

Enjoy!
--Your Writing Coach!

Copyright: beephoto / 123RF Stock Photo