Jed's Super-Dooper Newbie Question-of-the-Week Thread

Mee_sa

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*trumpets and fanfare*

I know this is long overdue, however...


What fuels you as a writer?


... by which I mean, what do you snack on, drink, etc, while on a writing binge?

I do coffee and peanuts. Or tea if it's too late in the day for coffee.

:popcorn:


Coffee! Thats really it. I can't concentrate on much else if Im eating or listening to music.
 

Daimeng

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New Question!! :)

What is more important: ideas or sentence structure? And when does a great idea become so good that sentence structure loses its importance?

Also, is there any one word that you always spell wrong? For me it's definitely. It took me three minutes to spell it just now. sad.
 

slcboston

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What is more important: ideas or sentence structure? And when does a great idea become so good that sentence structure loses its importance?

Speaking as an English teacher, and a former editor, and a writer, and before the grammar mavens here descend in full wrath upon you -

Sentence structure never stops being important. Ever. If you can't put your sentences together with a coherent structure, they will not be able to convey your ideas, no matter how brilliant they are.

:)


We are, however, due for a new question. I'll have one up by the end of the day.

:D
 

slcboston

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Holy humdinger... what's the question? %-)

The only actual QotW will be posted by me (or Jed, when he manages :D). Look for big, bold, colorful print, and I try to make sure it's on the page somewhere.

This is also how we avoid (or try to) the confusion of having too many questions floating around.

:D


And yes, real life sometimes interferes with the ability to have one every week, but I do try.

:chores
 

punahougirl84

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While waiting for the new question, I'll respond to the old one.

I'm fueled by Cheerios mixed with semi-sweet chocolate chips from Trader Joe's. Sometimes I mix in raw almonds. The drink of choice depends on the warmth or coolness of the air surrounding me: ice water, tea (Earl Grey, hot), or reheated leftover coffee with cocoa added to the sweetener and milk. Mocha Cheapa!
 

slcboston

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New QotW

Inspired by some of the confusion here this week:

What's your grammar/spelling weakness?

In other words, what word do you always misspell, what punctuation rule still confuses you, what part of speech do you most often part company with?


Lately homophones have been messing with me.

:e2writer:
 

SaraP

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I have issues with quotation marks, and that's all I'm going to say about that. :rolleyes:

There are a few words I tend to misspell often, though I can't remember any right now.

Oh, and every once in a while I'll let a portuguese word slip. Not often, but it has happened.
 

aimeeduffyx

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Hi everyone *waves*. I'm new to the forums and just stumbling about at the mo. This thread is brilliant! :)
 

aimeeduffyx

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What is more important: ideas or sentence structure? And when does a great idea become so good that sentence structure loses its importance?

Also, is there any one word that you always spell wrong? For me it's definitely. It took me three minutes to spell it just now. sad.

They're, there, their gets me everytime!
 

arielky

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Even though I've been teaching English for 24 years, which has considerably strengthened my grasp of grammar that was fairly strong to begin with from diagramming sentences for several years in grammar school (which I loved to do), I still write sentences that get so bungled that I have to start over and use another kind of structure to make it work. I tend to write complex, overly long sentences; my kind of writing is certainly not in vogue with the Internet and short attention span that most readers have today.
 

Sunflowerrei

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I'm a pretty good speller, so I can't think of any spelling weaknesses, but grammar, definitely. My handle on grammar isn't bad, but sometimes I feel like my sentences could be constructed better. I think it's because I write in past tense and I seem to want to make them past imperfect most of the time.
 

LisaH

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I don't know what it is, but sometimes I type "Tha" instead of "The". I mean, it sounds like "Tha", right? It's weird, though. I type fairly fast, and I can only believe my brain is trying to spell everything phonetically. Luckily, "Tha" isn't an actual word so MSWord catches it every time.

BTW, this is my first post ever on this site.
 

zanzjan

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Welcome, LisaH and aimeeduffyx!

I'm with Bos; ever since my concussion, I've had real problems with homophone confusion (won/one, etc.) It's getting better, but still noticeable, and I seem less able to catch them as I'm writing them and only pick them up on the re-read.
 

ClarissaJohal

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Under the ocean or out in space

Under the ocean--definitely. I love scuba diving and any opportunity to do that would be a, "Yes, please!!"
 

ClarissaJohal

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Inspired by some of the confusion here this week:

What's your grammar/spelling weakness?

In other words, what word do you always misspell, what punctuation rule still confuses you, what part of speech do you most often part company with?


Lately homophones have been messing with me.

:e2writer:
I am Comma Queen. But I accept that I am Comma Queen and edit the heck out of my manuscripts afterwards. I tend to compulsively overuse them when I'm taking a breath or thinking. When I'm not overusing my commas, I tend to use -- mistakenly thinking that my reader won't notice how wrong that is as well!
 

LisaH

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I do that too, ClarissaJohal. I also have a tendency to overuse ellipses. And incorrectly. Like right now . . .
And now . . .
It's just so much fun to type . . .
And looks really cool on the page . . .
 

Michael P

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I seem to have trouble with the word "license". It never looks right.
 

me-a-monsteR

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Grammar/spelling weakness?
Where to start... Ellipses, um, comma overexploitation. I misspell a lot of English words. But thank God for F7 spellcheck and my Oxford dictionary. I'd be so lost without them.

Weak defence on shaky ground: English is my second language.
 

slcboston

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Wow, apparently I tapped into a wellspring of grammar/spelling woes.

Who knew?

:D


(Possibly my seventh grade English teacher, but I never liked her anyway.)
 

slcboston

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New QotW

Now that summer is almost officially here (in the Northern Hemisphere, and as you approach Winter in the Southern Hemisphere you can start wishing for summer, at least):


What are you most looking forward to this summer?

We put in a garden last year, and it was the first one we'd attempted. So I'm looking forward to getting things right that we messed up last year, and enjoying my little home harvest.