Assignments
Power and Pizzazz: No More Vanilla Verbs
Punch up your verbs and write powerful prose with this weekend’s assignment.
Weekend Assignment: Strokes of Genius
Last week while traveling, I was stuck in a hotel room channel surfing while my hubby hogged the computer to feed his newfound Angry Birds addiction. (Yes, we keep him cloistered, so it takes awhile for things like AB to filter in.) I happened to stumble onto one of Bob Ross’s televised painting lessons. I’m […]
Weekend Assignment: Weather or Not?
Successful writers are nothing if not adaptable. This point came clear to me last week while watching The Weather Channel one morning. You may be thinking, The Weather Channel? Yo, Barb? What the heck does a cable channel devoted to weather have to do with me and my writing? My answer: Everything. Weather… yawn… or […]
Weekend Assignment: Blackout Poetry
One of the benefits to writing for an education market is I get to spend a bunch of time researching cool things to teach kids to do. In the process, I routinely run across fun things for writers of all ages. One of my recent discoveries along those lines? Blackout Poetry. I found it when […]
Weekend Assignment: Loglines
Hooray for Friday! This has been one of those never-ending weeks! I hope yours has been productive. I’m pleased at the response to my call for your favorite blog posts for writers. I’m still collecting nominations and will be throughout the rest of the year. If you haven’t already, please read the guidelines and nominate […]
Weekend Assignment: Uncovering Your Voice
Imagine you walked into a room full of strangers where someone handed you a microphone and expected you to make an impromptu speech. What would you do? If you are like most people, you’d probably freeze on the spot, filled with the certainty that you are going to say the wrong thing, or sound like […]
Weekend Assignment: Situation/Complication
Life’s messy. No truer words have ever been spoken or written. Just when you think you have a handle on things, one tiny change can be enough to throw everything out of whack. This week, my husband had a medical test that normally goes smoothly for him. In fact, everything seemed perfect for the first […]
Weekend Assignment: Life Lessons
Happy weekend, writers! This week’s assignment post is doing double duty. It’s a prompt, PLUS a contest announcement. The Fifth Annual Real Simple Life Lessons Essay Contest is going on right now. Each year they have a new theme based on a question. This year’s question is: “If you could change one decision you made […]
Weekend Assignment: Tour the Town
Hello Writers! It occurs to me that I could use a trip. My wanderlust is kicking in and I’d like to go somewhere, anywhere, to escape the daily routine. I figure I’m not alone, and that is the impetus behind this weekend’s assignment. I have no trips in my near future. That doesn’t mean I can’t think […]
Weekend Assignment: Mad Links
When I was a kid, I loved Mad Libs. Surprise! Wait. You don’t look surprised. I guess that whole word-nerdiness aura about me tipped you off in advance. I’m assuming the fact I taught my kids to create their own Mad Libs will hold no surprise for you either, right? Fine. Spoil my fun. While procrastinating scouring […]
Brainstorms & Bylines 