I’m celebrating the Vernal Equinox (8:07 PM in my area) leading a writing workshop at our local Barnes & Noble. WriterByNature is definitely walking her talk.

This is a one-shot, but B&N has told me that 12 people have signed up.

Making comparisons is a way to increase our understanding.

Metaphor, a Greek word translated as carry something across, is a way of comparing two things without using the words like or as.

As a writing tool, metaphor can create word pictures in the mind of the reader in a number of ways. Here are a few:

Several years ago I asked a fifth-grade nature class, "How many senses do we have?"

A student’s hand shot up as he said, "Six."

We rely on our sense of sight for the bulk of our daily activities. We look, then sometimes listen. But we have the ability to touch, taste and smell. I agree with that fifth-grader, our intuitive sense (the "little voice inside’) is another way to experience our world.

Have you ever read something and become so involved that you felt the finger-numbing cold, the shudder of fear or the dry mouth?

Here are some things to think about when using sensory experience to enrich your writing.

Here are a few guidelines for determining how to write numbers as numerals or words.

Without words, writing would be just a bunch of squiggles on a page. For most, if not all of us, we have to write many words before we can find the word that communicates exactly what we mean.

There are a number of ways to effectively choose our words including:

Reviews are written to evaluate a book, movie, event or
object.  Unlike a summary, the review
writer has an opinion or makes a case for the material reviewed.

As a review writer, you have some latitude in the tone,
style and subject matter of your piece.   Here are rules to help
your reader follow your train of thought.

Giving and receiving effective feedback is an essential part of the writing process.

Here is a handy checklist to help you cover the important points of a nonfiction work:

Correctly punctuated dialogue is one of those pesky, but critical details; it helps your reader follow who is speaking.

Here are a few examples that demonstrate correct punctuation when a person or character is speaking:

What do you do when the muse abandons you? How do you cope with the blank page?

Writers, like all artists, get stuck from time to time. Here are a few techniques that will help you negotiate past the obstacles in your writing path:

The Internet is like having a giant library at my disposal. Bad weather days are not quite the same when I can ask:

I wonder if . . . and get answers to questions or browse sites that motivate me to write.

Here are a few sites that feed my eyes, brains and fingers: