Today is a day for revisiting the madness of the English language. We have all had moments when our minds blank and we can’t figure out what word we should use. “Affect or effect?” We wonder to ourselves. “Affect is usually a verb, right?” Luckily the fine folks at GrammarCheck have a bright and bubbly infograph that helps writers make the proper word choices.

Back when I was grading students’ essays, this would have been a great resource to hand to them. I’m still half-tempted to send it around to people I know, but I’ll restrain myself.

Back in September, I published Emotional Beats: How to Easily Convert your Writing into Palpable Feelings. As promised, I will be posting the book on my blog. So, here is the next installment, featuring Part 2 of the book: Body Parts. This post deals with eyes:

Eyes

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As the saying goes, eyes are the window to the soul. They are also a writer’s best friend, as they can convey a wide variety of emotions. The only thing you need to watch out for is using overworn words: doesn’t “he gaped, unable to peel his gaze off the woman” sound better than “he stared at her”?

• Her eyelids fluttered shut.
• A flash of movement caught her eye.
• Her eyes clouded.
• He blinked owlishly.
• She blinked with feigned innocence.
• Her eyes rolled skyward.
• Her eyes wandered.
• Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him.

This is the second interview I have with the gorgeous author Raven H. Price -a Christfic Fantasy/Romance writer who inspires without preaching. I still remember my first one, a year ago. Actually, Raven H. Price was first guest author who accepted my invitation back then which made me extremely  happy and very proud.

Raven H. Price, is a Christian fiction writer who uses romance mixed with fantasy and supernatural events to intrigue her readers. She also enjoys devoting her time inspiring and encouraging people to believe in themselves and trusting in a loving God.
She is happily married to her husband, Ralph W. Price, III, and they live in Leesburg, Georgia with a large dog and four cats. Since she is a cat lover, her Twitter handle is ‘roaringpurr.’ (@Roaringpurr) Her Facebook author page @Roaringpurr, is devoted not only to her books but as an outlet to encourage…

I’m hosting a Facebook Party event on Saturday, February 11, 2017. Each author will have 30 minutes to promote their book (s), and play games and such. No valentine type book is needed, just a book. During your 30 minutes, you can invite people to like your author page, connect on Twitter, invite to follow your blog, etc. Write of your book and do a game such as each person post their favorite valentine post below one of your posts and the winner receives a free book. ONE of the prizes I’m giving away is a FREE brand new KINDLE!! Author spots are still open! 

1. Prepare all the material for posting in advance and hold it in a separate file. The event will be hectic so you’ll need everything at your fingertips. I wrote the posts and copied the images in order, ready to post at five-minute intervals. 

1. I can make…

by Samantha Fenton

Garret: a top-floor or attic room, especially a small dismal one (traditionally inhabited by an artist).

I once read a book on writing which mentioned “finding a garret.” I had not heard this term before, and didn’t quite know exactly how it related to writing. But the book had explained it as an area a writer can go to write perfectly uninterrupted and at peace. It’s a place where you can get mass amounts of writing done without distraction, it’s a place that’s comfortable and a generally nice spot to be at.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I’ve made a little video to explain the program I use for my tutorials.

A few readers have asked about my process.

My videos may not be Emmy-ready, but they get the job done, so here you go.

Did this help anyone?

Let me know if you’ve found a better mousetrap for making videos.

I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or click the “write me” tab or look for me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter  peeps and Facebook fans.

Keep reading for more tips!

5 Tips for Making a High Quality Video for Your Website

28 Tips To Start A Vlog And Make Videos Like YouTube Stars

How to Make Your First Video