Don't Peek (at) My Interest

Okay so the English teacher in me cannot. help. it.

I have to address some common errors I see all the time in blogging. Egregious spelling and usage mistakes. Mostly these are homophone errors, which are easy enough to make.

I don't like to interrupt reading blogs (which I find enjoyable) to be the grammar police. I do NOT comment on every blog post I read telling them all their spelling and grammar errors (although many blogs do need to utilize the spell check more than they do!).

However, since I am seeing some of the SAME errors over and over, I thought I'd write up some instructional blog posts that might be helpful. If the shoe fits. Wear it. If the spell checker is on your toolbar. Use it!

First up.

PIQUE

Pronounced: "peek"

Definition: To excite (interest, curiosity, etc.): Her curiosity was piqued by the gossip.

Usage Error: Instead of pique, I often see writers use the incorrect spelling "peek" or "peak." All three words have the same exact pronunciation.

Let me help you out.

• PEEK = a brief look or glance. Can be a noun or verb. (Take a peek. She peeked at the book.)
• PEAK = a sharp or pointed end, highest level, summit of a mountain. (A widow's peak. The peak of his career. The peak of Mt. Everest).
• PIQUE = to excite or stimulate interest or curiosity. (Have I piqued your interest?).

Keep them straight with these tricks:

• Peek = involves looking with your eyes. You have two eyes. There are two e's in the word. Imagine those e's are little eyes looking at something sideways.
• Peak = means the tip or high point. There is an A in the word. A capital letter A has a high point just like a mountain.
• Pique = has to do with getting someone interested. There is an I in this word. I for Interest!

Got that? Hope that helps you discern between these three commonly confused words!

Don't be peeking (at) my interest anymore. That brings me to the peak of frustration, grammatically! But I love to have my interest piqued!

Are there other words that you have a hard time remembering how to use? I'd be happy to write a post about them! Just let me know!

Book Review: Unto the Hills by Billy Graham (Rated 5/5)

Do you find it hard to squeeze in some quiet time? And when you do, you find you can't concentrate, or what you read just doesn't give you anything to think about?

Recently I was sent the Billy Graham devotional Unto the Hills. I like having a devotional book that gives me a nugget of thought to turn over in my mind throughout the day.

Unto the Hills is set up in a similar format to Our Daily Bread. However, I found the selections to be longer and a bit meatier. Every day gives a verse, then the devotional, and ends with a prayer.

Graham writes in a light style that makes for an easy read, but the daily messages have a subtle depth and contain doctrinal value. They aren't merely fluff or "feel good" pieces. Graham writes consistently about the price of our salvation in Christ's death, poses questions about where our values lie (in the material or the spiritual), and urges Christians away from compromise and towards following Christ.

He adeptly weaves in personal narrative, anecdotes, persuasive questioning, and scripture references to bring a challenging thought for each day. I especially enjoyed the prayer selection at the end, because it brings a sense of closure to the piece, and leaves me pondering how to incorporate the daily lesson into my personal life.

Whether read day by day, or several selections at a time, Unto the Hills is a daily devotional easy to add to daily Bible reading even for those with busy schedules!

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I write a lot.

I'm doing a ton of writing lately. I'm not sure if it's helping improve my style or not... but it's a lot of writing! Here's where and what I'm writing:

1. Our family and parenting blog - of course, I do daily (sometimes more) posts on A Year With Mom and Dad - product reviews, personal posts, etc. This keeps me pretty busy!
2. Sometimes I get paid post opportunities that don't really fit our family blog but, it's nice to get paid for writing, so I put them on my alternate product review blog.
3. Our gardening blog - every once in awhile I think of something to say at Once Upon a Garden
4. Here - lately I've been writing about the modern style of writing that blogging has produced.
5. Guest posting - I am working on some guest posts for other blogs. And I'll be starting to do some product reviews here soon.
6. Freelance writing - I do some occasional online writing for Avon MotoPhoto and will be helping them out with their company blog soon! (If you have a small business that needs some copy writing, just email me!).
7. Bible Adventure Club - I write the character stories for our church's kid program on Wednesday night. Tales of the Wild West and Uncle Jed! This is my most fun writing!

Sort of writing stuff:
I applied to be a writing instructor at Brave Writer - I will find out if they accepted my application in a week or so. That may not really mean I'll be writing more, but I'll be more involved in the work of writing.

So, wow, I've been doing a lot of writing. I wish I did more creative writing. But I'm glad that I'm keeping the writing going in any genre, and I'll weave in the creative pieces from time to time too!

Do you write? Where do you write?

If Shakespeare Blogged...

Blogging is such an infant genre. It's changing the way we write. What we write about. Our audience. And the way we interact with our readers.

I got to wondering what would've happened if some well-known authors had blogs. Here's what I surmise:

Victor Hugo: Would've lost his audience with his intricate sentences and terribly long paragraphs. Not to mention that he could stay on one topic for about sixty pages (see description of Paris in The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Blogging would not be a good genre for him.

T.S. Eliot: Would've never gotten any Google page rank, due to having far too many outbound links on his home page. You know, the footnotes and all. But probably would've found a niche audience regardless.

Shakespeare: Now here's a blogger waiting to happen. He would've broken his posts up into acts. He would've created his own Memes like "Soliloquy Saturdays" and "Sonnet Sundays." Perhaps "Tragic Post Thursday. And who would dare leave a snarky comment on his posts? Because he's the insult and comeback king!

J. R. R. Tolkien: Blogger spell check would not tolerate his penchant for using Elfin languages and made-up words. Samwise Gamgee? Frodo? Golum? There would be red squiggle lines underneath every other word, and Tolkien would spend his time clicking "ignore word" over and over. (same for e. e. cummings).

Thoreau: Might have been a good nature blogger, but probably wouldn't have an internet connection where he lived.

Samuel Johnson: Would get the most pingbacks as other bloggers would quote his posts extensively.

Jane Austen: Would've had a dating and relationships advice blog.

These are just the ones that popped in my head...

What do you think other authors' blogs might have looked like?



Strike That! Another Bit of Blog Grammar

Have you noticed the latest trend in online writing? The strike through.

Right. Like when you're drafting and realize you have a better way to say what you already wrote. So you strike through a portion of your draft and write a new phrase or sentence.

These drafts used to end up crumbled in so many piles around a garbage can. But lately, the strike through has become a way of writing. Not a way of masking drafting a writer's initial thoughts, but a way of expanding on a thought. The purposeful strike through.

The author wants you to see the sarcastic, humorous, original thought first written. It's a feint. A way of making the reader privy to the author's truest thoughts, so true and deep the author considers striking them from the record.

But no. Because there they are, clearly visible through the strike through. And plainly the author wants the world to read the strike through.

It's quite effective for adding interest. Can come off as humorous, the author's way of illuminating their real thoughts, or showing how they tempered an initial reaction. But not-so-subtly letting the reader know there is more to the story.

I find it a novelty. A mix of typographical element and verbiage. I have not mastered the use of this burgeoning trend yet, but waiting my moment for when I can employ it to greatest effect. Rough drafting may never be the same again!

Do you use the strike through effect often in your own writing? What do you think of this trend? Love it / Hate it? Is it here to stay? Passing through?