I relied heavily on my trusty Roget's Thesaurus throughout high school and college. These days, lucky writers can easily access synonyms on mobile phones and computers. If you aren't already a fan of synonyms, I hope you will be after reading this post!   4 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD LOVE SYNONYMS Reason #1: Eliminate Repetition Why use the same words over and over when you can enliven your essay, story, or speech with sparkling synonyms?  Reason #2: Increase Vocabulary  Thesaurus.com (part of dictionary.com) makes it simple to look up synonyms. Yes, you should look up defin ..read more

Happy Halloween, everyone! I promise to keep this short and snappy so you can focus on costumes and candy in the very near future.  By starting a sentence with later, tomorrow, next week, or next year, you're setting yourself up to look toward the FUTURE TENSE. So as not to put you on the spot, I'll feature in all of today's sentences.  -Later, I'll put on my fuzzy-eared headband and pass out candy.  -Tomorrow, I'll meet with a student to review the latest draft of her college essay.  -Next week, I hope to visit with friends.  -Next year, who knows, I might be vaca ..read more

​Writers and readers alike are more familiar and comfortable with this tense. Drumroll, please! PAST TENSE is the subject of today's spoonful.  How can you tell if a book is written in the PAST TENSE? First, examine the verbs in the narration.  --Were and was are PAST TENSE forms of the verb "to be."  Here's a simple example sentence which tells, not shows: John was happy.  --Scored and jumped are two PAST TENSE action verbs.  Abra-Cadabra! Now the sentence shows, not tells.  John scored the winning touchdown and jumped for joy. Next, examine the t ..read more

Don't let your confusion over verb tenses make you emotionally overwrought!! There are a dizzying number of verb tenses (from 6 to 12, depending who you believe), but writers are in luck! We only need to choose from the two main tenses, PRESENT and PAST. And guess what? Each (as well as FUTURE TENSE) will star in their own spoonful.  First up (drumroll please): PRESENT TENSE!! Do you want to share information in "real time"? If so, PRESENT TENSE is for you. Book reports are written in PRESENT TENSE, as are blog posts and advertisements. I write my spoonfuls in PRESENT TENSE b ..read more

EVEN though    EVEN or Odd    EVEN = equal    EVEN = flat and smooth There are many valid uses of the root word EVEN. But EVEN (like its pal JUST) has a way of sneaking into sentences a wee bit too often. Typically, the intention behind adding EVEN is to impart emphasis. Below, I'll share 3 sentences and provide guidance about when it's appropriate to let EVEN stay and when you should ask EVEN to leave. In each example, imagine the characters are a 16-year-old boy and his father.  EXAMPLE #1: "I moved the lawn and even cleaned out the ..read more