Katharine's Writer's Block

Syntax is the study of sentence construction Many food recipes often have a fairly set sequence of tasks that get you to an edible final product. For instance, you might mix your dry ingredients before your liquid ones. You might boil the pot or kettle first or preheat and oil the cooking/baking implements before putting in the entree. Skipping a significant step or doing them out of order can often make a big difference in the experience or output. The layout of sentences c

As a kid, I dabbled in writing Scooby-Doo fanfiction--before fanfiction blew up in popularity, might I add. As a teenager, I dabbled in writing skits that were performed by my church’s puppet team to an audience in the children’s program. Like the Scooby-Doo stories though, those skits may be lost to time as well, but the experience was still pretty awesome! Skits, a synonym of sketches, are typically just small-scale or abbreviated acting projects. The most defining charact

In October 2025, I took a cross-country road trip with my husband. A few days in, we parked overnight at a truck stop that had some cool postcards. I grabbed a handful to share as souvenirs for some kids back home and made a point from then on to check out any postcard inventory at most other stops we made. Little did I know that our road trip started just a few days after a recently implemented holiday that celebrates the souvenir of choice. If unfamiliar, postcards are spe

I’m a casual, low-key sports fan at best, but I can appreciate the cultural magnitude and impact that the 2026 World Cup is having! FIFA’s data shows that through forty-four matches, “attendance topped 2.85 million and stadiums were 99.6% full”! Reuters additionally reflects that it's possible that political travel restrictions and negative sentiments have not slowed many down. And while we Americans may not be the biggest fans of soccer--be it for our own teams or the sport

An illustrated example of an idiom; definition and more are given below So, my husband created this spicy rub for chicken wings using black pepper, red pepper, chili and garlic powder. I discovered at some point that most of his blend also concocts taco seasoning--just in more measured helpings or it kicks as hard as the wings can! Much like with cooking, writing/communication can be “spiced up” with good helpings of word choice and detail development. This idea was previous

English class stock photo from Google Back in the early years of Facebook, the platform offered a notes feature. As one could imagine, the feature was a text processor that allowed space for expression beyond the status update and comment sections. I'm sure you could also easily imagine me spending a lot of time with this element. Unfortunately, the feature was discontinued in 2020, but the platform is kind enough to "remind" me of my old publishings from time to time with it

How often do we play? I remember from my fundamental education classes a theory that promotes learning through play. The gist of it is that the learner drives their own learning experience and ultimately gains rich benefits in personal skills as well as academic knowledge. Montessori schools/education utilize elements of this approach. Play-based learning is easy to imagine and facilitate in young grade levels. The education experience becomes more formalized for older or adv

While looking back over some of my writing, I’ve noticed I get a little “slash-happy” every once in a while. Perhaps I incorporate the slash mark ( / ) without a lot of thought, so I looked for some official guidance to help me rethink my usage. Here’s what I find that may help you too. In English writing, the mark is called either a forward slash or simply a slash . Less common names for it include stroke, solidus, diagonal, or oblique. The punctuation has roots in Roman c

“There’s an app for that,” was the slogan tech giant Apple used to promote the iOS App Store for their devices in the early two-thousands. Amid the activities that holidays and special occasions entail-- just like with apps--there is almost certainly a greeting card for that! Greeting cards are like a cousin to writing letters . They are not totally extinct or obsolete despite existing technology. In fact, according to statistics from the Greeting Card Association, Americans

Around this time last year, my husband started planning a career change. Part of his process entailed submitting a resignation letter to his employer at the time. Naturally, I helped him with this project, and now I impart the wisdom to you. Quick side note of life advice before the writing advice: Prior to moving forward with a resignation/termination/professional exit process, make sure you are as secure as you are able to be in your next steps. Mainly, if you are switchi