Katharine's Writer's Block

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

Those who know me well know I love the Peanuts comics and specials! I’m most familiar with the holiday episodes so I’m expanding my horizons by delving into the other features; one of which is the 1969 film A Boy Named Charlie Brown. The premise of this story is that Charlie Brown surprises everyone by progressing through some major spelling bee competitions. During his preparatory studies, Charlie, Linus, and Snoopy break out into a song, aptly titled “I Before E Except afte

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

I find it difficult to think of March twenty-third as an ok day...for one thing it's my birthday! But even before me, plenty of significant matters occurred on this day too, like Patrick Henry claiming, “Give me liberty or give me death!” in 1775, shortly before the thirteen colonies’ war with Great Britain. Also, on this day in 1806, Lewis and Clark began their return to Missouri after their two-year exploration of the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest. The first

September 8th is World Ampersand Day! This post is all about this writing mark: & The ampersand is an English symbol that represents the word “and”. Some may call it “the and symbol” but ampersand is its proper name. The symbol has actually been around a long time; at least as far back as the first century AD as a cursive Roman figure. For a while, it was even recognized as the twenty-seventh letter of the English alphabet! Conversely, its holiday has only been around sinc

One of my aims with Writing Lessons & Advice is to give you plenty of direction on what to do in and with your writing. In this post, I’m aiming for a different approach by trying to discuss what not to do. Here are twelve common writing errors (in no particular order) according to several highly-regarded writing sources. Error: incorrect or missing words Incorrect word errors typically occur with easily confused words, be it with homophones, homonyms, homographs or more nu

Several years ago, I was big on Doctor Who ! (If you haven't noticed before, I’ve made nods to the show in other posts.) A college friend introduced me around the fiftieth anniversary. In turn, I introduced it to an ex-boyfriend and then my husband. So I’ve watched the nearly two-decade span of the “revival era” a few times over. For those unfamiliar, Doctor Who is a long-running British sci-fi/fantasy show centered on a human-looking alien who calls themself The Doctor, tr

Bonus content is an awesome feature of most DVDs and Blu-ray discs! While the movie or show is the main content of the medium, of course, most supplementary material is for fans of the property or of film in general. Good bonus content entails a combination of bloopers, behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, commentary, games, trailers, alternate or extended cuts, and so much more! They ultimately give viewers a deeper connection to the main content itself. You find that

Illustration from "Schoolhouse Rock" segment on verbs. Video clip in sources. The insights into living life are a dime a dozen: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill “There is no passion to be found by playing small--in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” -Nelson Mandela “Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” -Emily Dickenson “The key to immortality is first livi