8 Writing Tools Every Writer Should Know About

As a writer, you may be working harder than you need to if you are not using the available tools for your job. The old adage “there’s no need to reinvent the wheel” certainly applies to this situation. Have no fear, we’re here to help with eight writing tools that all writers should consider adding to their toolboxes.

1 LiveScribe Pen

Do you get writing inspiration from your daily life? You may jot notes on paper, but how often do you lose or forget about them? Your problem has a solution. The LiveScribe 3 smartpen uses Bluetooth technology to send your drawings and notes to your mobile device. The LiveScribe notebooks use a special pattern on its paper to accurately record your pen strokes, but you can also print single sheets for free with a laser printer. If you prefer to dictate notes, the pen also captures audio with a built-in microphone.

2 Computer Glasses

Everybody who uses a computer extensively is susceptible to eyestrain, but writers are especially at risk because of their frequent reading habits. According to the American Optometric Association, you may be at risk for symptoms such as blurry vision, light sensitivity, and burning or itchy eyes if you spend as little as two hours in front of a computer monitor. They also caution that the eyeglasses or contact lenses you normally use may not be adequate for heavy computer use. Ask your doctor about special lenses, coatings, and tints.

3 Ergonomic desks and chairs

The ideal placement of a computer screen is about four to five inches below eye level and at least twenty inches from your face. Standing desks promote productivity, but a good chair can also contribute to efficiency. Choose a chair that is comfortable and provides back and arm support. Staples, an office furniture distributor, explains that ergonomic chairs should be fitted to the body dimensions of the user, thereby reducing “strain and muscle tension.”

4 Grammarly

Of course, we couldn’t list our favorite writing tools without mentioning Grammarly! The app does more than identify grammar and spelling mistakes; it provides deep explanations of grammar rules and suggested corrections. You can install Grammarly as an extension for Chrome, Safari, or Firefox web browsers for free, or check longer pieces of writing in Grammarly’s online text editor. Grammarly Premium, a paid service, checks for a wider variety of errors, detects plagiarism, and offers style and vocabulary enhancements.

5 Foldable Keyboards

Did you know you can type using your smartphone or tablet? Most writers would balk because of the impracticality of typing a long document on a tiny touchscreen. However, a foldable keyboard can enable you to get work done on the go. Bluetooth keyboards have been around for a while, but some people found them bulky and unmanageable because they were almost as big as a tablet. New foldable keyboards offer convenience in a small package. For example, the Microsoft Universal Foldable Keyboard is just under twelve inches open, but it collapses down to under six inches when closed. Don’t throw out your laptop, though, because portable keyboards aren’t intended for extended use.

6 Contently

Contently hosts a wealth of resources for freelance writers, such as tips, job openings, and online portfolio hosting. For instance, the article “5 Red Flags to Look for in a Contract” explains the legal terms that might boggle a freelancer into a bad agreement. Contently also offers writing jobs on its website. Even if you don’t see a job that suits you today, you can create a free online portfolio to showcase your work to potential clients. The Contently algorithm will automatically search your portfolio and forward it if you match the skills required for a writing project.

7 Twords

Twords describes itself as “the web app that nudges you to write.” The app operates based on three principles—awareness, accountability, and consistency. Twords makes you aware of your writing habits by tracking how much you write each day and month. “Accountability buddies” notify you when you miss several days of writing. If you get writer’s block, you can consult a library of prompts, set a timer to challenge yourself to write for a specific amount of time, or read an article about the habits of successful authors.

8 Evernote

Evernote is a software program that syncs digital items across all your devices. For example, suppose you are at the office and you want to consult a website that you viewed on your desktop last night at home. Or you are at the gym and you want to access a photograph or an email, but all you have is your smartphone. You can set up Evernote to monitor certain folders on your computers. Anything that you add to the folder is accessible from all your tech gadgets. You can even search your notes if you don’t remember where you saved something.

What’s your go-to writing tool? Let us know in the comments section of this post.

Breath vs. Breathe

• Breathe is a verb we use for the process of inhaling and exhaling.
• Breath is a noun that refers to a full cycle of breathing. It can also refer to the air that is inhaled or exhaled.
• Both words can be used in several different ways and are part of many phrases and idioms.

You know when it gets really cold outside, and you exhale and see the steam coming out of your mouth? Is it your breath that you’re seeing or is it your breathe? Do we need to breath so we can live, or do we need to breathe? Clearly there’s a difference between breath and breathe, a difference that extends beyond that extra “e” that appears at the end of one of them. Breath vs. breathe is a dilemma you shouldn’t be having, so let’s settle it once and for all.

How Do You Spell Breath or Breathe?

The difference between breath and breathe is a matter of word class: one of the two is a noun and the other is a verb. It’s also easy to see the connection between them, with the noun being the product of the action we describe with the verb. But with a difference of only one letter between them, breath and breathe still get mixed up when people are not clear about which one is the noun and which one is the verb.

The shorter one, breath, is the noun, and the longer one, breathe is the verb. Both have multiple meanings and uses, and are a common component of many idioms.

How to Use Breath, the Noun

The literal meaning of the noun breath is tied to the exchange of gasses we commonly refer to as breathing. In that sense, breath can refer to the process of breathing in general or the ability to breathe. You can also use breath to refer to a full cycle of breathing. For example, when you’re doing yoga, you might need to hold a pose for five breaths. Breath can also be used when we speak about the air we breath in and out during the process of breathing.

If you’d like to move away from the literal meaning of the word, you can also use breath when you’re talking about a small amount of something, usually wind. Also, breath is commonly used to signify a pause or rest, as in the phrases “take a breath” or “catch breath.”

How to Use Breathe, the Verb

Breathing is a process by which we take air into our lungs, get oxygen from it, and expel carbon dioxide back into our surroundings. At least, that’s one of the ways the verb “breathe” can be used as an intransitive verb. You can also use it to say that something allows free passage or circulation of air. That’s why you might hear someone mention an article of clothing that “breathes.” But wine can also be allowed to breathe, so the verb can also mean that something is exposed to air. Figuratively, you can also use breathe to say that something is alive.

As a transitive verb, “breathe” can be used to say that we use something in breathing – we breathe air, but we don’t breathe water. If you add “in” or “out,” breathe can be synonymous with “inhale” or “exhale.” But you can also say that you breathe life into a party, or that you breathe an air of mystery, so in these senses, you can use breathe as you would “impart” or “have.”

Breath and Breathe in Idioms

Breath and breathe appear in a number of idioms. When you say you need room to breathe, you’re saying you need freedom or more space to do something. When someone is breathing down your neck, either you’re under scrutiny or someone is chasing you and it seems they are catching up to you. When you say you can breathe easily now, you could be saying that you’re feeling relieved.

To take one’s breath away is to surprise them. When someone says that you shouldn’t hold your breath, it usually means you shouldn’t hope. A breath of fresh air is someone or something that challenges staleness. You can say something under your breath, which means to say it quietly, or do something in the same breath as something else, which means to do it simultaneously.

Examples of Breath and Breathe

“I realized as I watched him fight for breath, that his life was as important to him as mine is to me.” —The Huffington Post

“Press your shoulder blades down and keep your head and neck relaxed. Hold this for 5-10 breaths.” —The Daily Mail

“Many people find observing their breath flowing in and out is a good way to stay mindful.” —BBC

“Hardly a breath of wind: the silence that emphasizes a city’s fate.” —The Independent

“Canada wildfire: Firefighters catch a breath as rain helps in oil sands fire battle.” —ABC

“Children with sickle cell disease may breathe easier when they’re given hydroxyurea…” —WebMD

“Designers sweat the details to let athletic clothes breathe.” —The Washington Post

“Allowing a wine to ‘breathe’ is simply a process of exposing it to air for a period of time before serving.” —Total Wine

“Steve has a real feeling for red wine; he lives and breathes red wine.” —The Australian

“More than 80 percent of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution breathe air that exceeds WHO air quality limits, according to the report, which was released Thursday.” —ThinkProgress

“Committee member Rebecca Pow, the Conservative MP for Taunton Deane, appeared taken aback by the idea that people could be breathing in plastics.” —The Independent

“All that hustling to breathe life into Main Street may have been the easy part.” —The Orange County Register

“The Memorial Day parade in Hamburg breathes an air of mystery.” —Livingston Daily

Which is your favorite rule?

What Language Do the Minions Speak?

The Minions have their own movie now, but before 2015, they starred alongside the lovable villain Gru in the Despicable Me movie series. Like all top actors, the Minions deliver many quotes that fans love to repeat. However, the quotes you hear from Minion fans are likely to be things like “Ngaaahaaa! Patalaki patalaku Big Boss!” What does that mean? What language do the Minions speak?

To answer that, you have to turn to the creator of the language. Minionese is not a real world language. Directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda say that they borrowed cool vocabulary from existing world languages and combined them with funny sounds and gibberish to create Minionese.

Minion Words

Anyone who knows Minions knows that there’s one word they love to say—banana! Some fans even call their language “banana language.” When Minions say banana, they are usually talking about the fruit. However, there are plenty of other food words in their vocabulary. They sing a song that features banana and potato. They also reportedly say poulet tiki masala; poulet means chicken in French and tikka masala is the name of an Indian dish. They count to three in Korean and say thank you in intentionally mispronounced English. You can find fan-created Minion word sites on the Internet if you want to learn more.

How to Speak Minion

Speaking like a Minion isn’t just a matter of making nonsensical sounds with foreign words thrown in here and there. Minions talk a lot like babies. Think of it—banana is reminiscent of baby babble—ba-na-na. They use a lot of Bs and Ps, some of the first sounds that babies master. And they talk in cute little voices that lilt upwards.

Will you see the next Minion film or rewatch one of the old ones? If you do, keep an ear open for the languages you know how to speak. You might hear a phrase you recognize. Report what you think the phrases mean below!

Future Perfect

The future perfect is a verb tense used for actions that will be completed before some other point in the future.

The parade will have ended by the time Chester gets out of bed. At eight o’clock I will have left.

Key words: Verb, past participle, tense, preposition

The future perfect tense is for talking about an action that will be completed between now and some point in the future. Imagine that your friend Linda asks you to take care of her cat for a few days while she goes on a trip. She wants you to come over today at noon so she can show you where to find the cat food and how to mash it up in the bowl just right so that Fluffy will deign to eat it. But you’re busy this afternoon, so you ask Linda if you can come at eight o’clock tonight instead.

“No, that won’t work! At eight o’clock I will have left already,” she says.

What does the future perfect tell us here? It tells us that Linda is going to leave for her trip some time after right now, but before a certain point in the future (eight o’clock tonight). She probably shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to find a cat sitter.

The Future Perfect Formula

The formula for the future perfect tense is pretty simple: will have + [past participle]. It doesn’t matter if the subject of your sentence is singular or plural. The formula doesn’t change.

When to Use the Future Perfect Tense

Sometimes, you can use the future perfect tense and the simple future tense interchangeably. In these two sentences, there is no real difference in meaning because the word before makes the sequence of events clear:

Linda will leave before you get there. Linda will have left before you get there.

But without prepositions such as before or by the time that make the sequence of events clear, you need to use the future perfect to show what happened first.

At eight o’clock Linda will leave. (This means that Linda will wait until 8 o’clock to leave.) At eight o’clock Linda will have left. (This means Linda will leave before 8 o’clock.)

When Not to Use the Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect tense is only for actions that will be complete before a specified point in the future. In other words, the action you’re talking about must have a deadline. If you don’t mention a deadline, use the simple future tense instead of the future perfect tense.

Linda will leave.

Linda will have left.

The deadline can be very specific (eight o’clock) or it can be vague (next week). It can even depend on when something else happens (after the parade ends). It just has to be some time in the future.

How to make the Future Perfect Negative

Making a negative future perfect construction is easy! Just insert not between will and have.

We will not have eaten breakfast before we get to the airport tomorrow morning. They will not have finished decorating the float before the parade.

You can also use the contraction won’t in the place of will not. They won’t have finished decorating the float before the parade.

How to Ask a Question

The formula for asking a question in the future perfect tense is will + [subject] + have + [past participle]:

Will you have eaten lunch already when we arrive? Will they have finished decorating the float before the parade?

Prepositional Phrases that Often Go With the Future Perfect

By this time next week, Linda will have left for her trip. Three days from now, we will have finished our project. At midnight, the party will have ended. Will you have eaten already? Chester will not have arrived by the time the parade is over. When I travel to France, I will have been to ten countries. My sister will have cleaned the bathroom before the party. As soon as someone buys this chair, I will have sold all the furniture I wanted to get rid of.

Common Regular Verbs in the Future Perfect Tense

Common Irregular Verbs in the Future Perfect Tense

*Be careful when using the verb “to be” in the future perfect tense. The construction is easy to confuse with the future perfect continuous tense.

**The past participle of “to get” is gotten in American English. In British English, the past participle is got.

Five Books that Will Make You a Better Communicator

How do you feel when you can’t communicate your ideas or emotions? If you find it frustrating, why not make a study of communication skills? Learning to communicate is like learning to swim. You progress from breathing exercises in a few feet of water to practicing laps in deeper water. Before you know it, you’re ready for the diving board. Let’s review some books, starting with some simple fixes based on personal experiences. Next, we’ll consider some books written by accomplished researchers in the field. With a bit of practice, you’ll be speaking and writing better in no time.

How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships by Leil Lowndes

Most small things are less intimidating than their full-sized versions. For example, you might not be as scared of a baby tiger as you would be of its mom. Likewise, the niney-two tips featured in this how-to guide are “little” achievable goals. The author explains: “I found concrete building blocks to the elusive qualities that lead to . . . success. Then, I broke them down into easily digestible news-you-can-use techniques.” She organized the tricks into nine chapters, which include personal anecdotes, making it a quick and interesting read. Even if you don’t need every single trick, you’re sure to find something applicable. For example, the thirtieth trick, “How to Avoid Sounding Like a Jerk,” has universal appeal. This book isn’t too serious. Read it if you want to dip your toes into the waters of better speech.

Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott

According to Boss magazine, Susan Scott wasn’t prepared for the “strong opinions and egos” of some CEOs when she started coordinating think tanks. With no background in consulting to fall back on, her early encounters were a trial by fire. However, she learned to interact with powerful people and to motivate them to accomplish company goals. Fierce Conversations shares the principles of conversation that she credits for her success. Whether it’s a group of coworkers facing a disagreement or a married couple making a decision, anyone can use communication skills to enrich a relationship. Scott’s principles can be applied to any situation. For example, people often complain that they constantly repeat the same conversation. According to the fourth principle, the issue occurs because of two factors. First, the conversants haven’t identified the underlying issue. “The problem named is the problem solved. Identify and then confront the real obstacles in your path.” Second, avoiding the challenge leads to emotional fatigue which only weakens their ability to solve the problem in future conversations. “Burnout doesn’t occur because we’re solving problems; it occurs because we’ve been trying to solve the same problem over and over.” What is the real issue underlying one of your recurring discussions with a coworker or friend?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

What’s this book doing on the list? No, it’s not a communication guide, but it does feature a character who can teach you a lot about interacting with others. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, is the second-oldest daughter of a country gentleman. She tackles many sticky issues of her day—social standing, women’s education, and morality, to name a few. When she butts heads with her mother about if and when to marry, she needs to rely on her wit and charm. Her relationship with another character, Fitzwilliam Darcy, also provides fertile topics for analysis. Despite a series of misunderstandings and miscommuniqués, she finds herself attracted and repelled by the handsome Darcy. Don’t read this novel as a voyeur. Imagine that you are either the proud Darcy or the stubborn Elizabeth. Swim right into the pages of the story, and you will find yourself analyzing your present-day interactions. Do you have all the facts before you speak? Do your words reveal your true feelings?

Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot- And Cold-Climate Cultures by Sarah A. Lanier

How does your culture affect the way you communicate and perceive others? This question takes us firmly out of the shallow end! The author moved from the United States to the Middle East at a young age and later worked with an international organization. She observed that the climate of a country seems to have an effect on its norms for behavior and social relations. For instance, cold climates tend towards direct communication. In other words, you might receive a simple yes or no to a question. On the other hand, warm cultures value being friendly as much as answering the question. As a form of politeness, they may indicate that the answer is yes even though it’s really no! Many travelers use the book, but anyone who lives or works with different cultures may appreciate its well-researched insight.

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost

Writing well is just as important as speaking well. This book, published in the 1980s, is a classic guide to effective writing. Principles of good writing never go out of style. Gary Provost, a prolific writer of twenty-four books in various genres, is famous for bringing out the musicality of written language with the following quote: “This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music.” Would you like your writing to be as appealing as a pleasant tune? Dive into this oldie-but-goodie!

Don’t throw your hands up in frustration if you can’t convey your thoughts and emotions as precisely as you would like. Instead, make a study of written and verbal communication. Like a young child learning to swim, you will soon gain confidence and skill as you practice the skills suggested by these communication experts.

The Battle of the Brands (INFOGRAPHIC)

In these social-media driven times, a company’s image depends increasingly on its words. From blog posts, tweets, and Facebook status updates, to good ol’ fashioned billboards, a brand’s ability to deliver error-free copy is key. While only a handful of people might notice a minor grammatical blunder in a corporate LinkedIn page, major errors undermine the brand’s credibility. After all, if a company can’t even spell correctly, why would consumers trust them to deliver a quality product?

The Grammarly team decided to take a look at some of the top brand battles of all-time; we looked at recent LinkedIn posts from each company on the list, reviewing an average of nearly 400 words per company. After scouring the posts for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation, clear winners emerged:

• Coke vs. Pepsi: Coke makes four times fewer writing mistakes on Linkedin than Pepsi.
• Facebook vs. Google: Not only does Google dominate the Internet, but it also makes nearly four times fewer writing mistakes than Facebook on Linkedin.
• Ford vs. GM: GM makes two-and-a-half times more writing errors than Ford.

Now, it’s unlikely that you’ll choose Coke over Pepsi because of its superior command of the English language; at the consumer level, brand loyalty is based on more than advertising or web presence. However, the care that a company takes with its communications is often indicative of its overall attention to detail. Investors and competitors may judge sloppy writing, especially in the more formal setting of LinkedIn, as a sign of carelessness in a company’s overall corporate culture.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs are often under even greater scrutiny from eagle-eyed proofreaders, who have posted countless examples of bad grammar on sites like Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and Pleated-Jeans. The Internet has made it much easier to record, share, and immortalize these mistakes.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that all social media liaisons and corporate bloggers need to be English literature professors. A skilled proofreader, whether in-house or freelance, will catch most errors. An automated proofreader like Grammarly can also help clean up copy quickly, which is perfect for smaller pieces with quick turnaround, like Tweets or status updates.

Speaking of Twitter and Facebook, it’s important to note that not all platforms are judged equally. Off-the-cuff social media can—and should—be more conversational and informal than business documents or print advertising. No one expects a 140-character Tweet to use perfect grammar and spelling, but corporations who attempt to be “hip” by using text slang often fail to impress their intended audience. Check out this roundup of corporate “Twitter fails” for examples of social media gone horribly wrong.

The rules of acceptable grammar are always changing—does anyone really bat an eye anymore at Wendy’s “late nite drive-thru?”—and too much inflexible formality in writing leads to stilted copy. While some grammar rules shouldn’t be broken (here’s a list of 25 common grammar mistakes to avoid), knowing the intended audience and the conventions of a particular social media platform can go a long way to setting the tone for your writing. In general, younger consumers care less about grammar than their older counterparts, and sites like LinkedIn are more formal than Twitter or Facebook.

These 4 Tips Will Save You Time in Meetings

Sick of unfocused, unproductive meetings? The average office meeting is a modern-day implement of torture, dragging on forever while everyone talks in circles and your annoying coworker (yeah, there’s one in every crowd) hijacks the meeting with his ramblings.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. A well-run meeting will last a bearable amount of time, get everyone aligned and on the same page, and develop clear next steps for what you’re trying to achieve together.

So if you’re ready to stop wasting time and start using your meetings to their full potential, here are four tips for how to save time in meetings and maximize your productivity:

1Always Have an Agenda

Save time in your meetings and get everyone on the same page (literally) by creating a meeting agenda in advance.

Be sure your agenda clearly states the goal or goals you want to accomplish by the end of the meeting—whether that’s making a key decision, brainstorming ideas, or organizing a plan of action.

Here’s a tip: If you can’t think of a clear goal for the meeting to accomplish, or your goal could be achieved by another method, then you don’t need to have a meeting.

Send the agenda out in advance so your meeting attendees have time to ask questions, get any materials prepped, and start thinking through solutions.

During the meeting, use your agenda as a roadmap to keep the conversation on topic so you can make productive use of your time and achieve your goals.

2Appoint a Moderator

Put an end to pointless, rambling speeches, unnecessary debates, and momentum-stealing bunny trails. Have an attendee act as a moderator responsible for keeping the group on task with the agenda and curtailing unproductive behavior.

A good moderator will kindly but firmly cut off Jorge-from-Marketing’s long-winded tirade and encourage Latifa-from-Design to share her thoughts.The loudest voice in the room isn’t necessarily the one with the best ideas, so it’s important to make space for the shy and introverted among us who feel less confident about sharing.

Having a moderator is useful for guiding the group in brainstorming or getting back on track if the conversation has stalled. And best of all, a moderator will not only save time during the meeting but can also use their power to make sure the meeting ends on time!

3End the Meeting on Time

Right now you may be thinking this isn’t possible. “Oh yes,” you say, “meetings will end on time—when unicorns prance once again through the wooded glades!”

Have faith—it is possible.

First, think critically about how long the meeting needs to be. The standard on many scheduling calendars is one hour, but you may need only thirty or forty-five minutes to get everything done. A shorter meeting can create a sense of urgency and focus that encourages efficiency.

Take a shot at beginning the meeting on time. Send a reminder message thirty minutes before go-time and encourage people to arrive five minutes early so they can grab coffee and settle in.

Clearly state the meeting’s end time in the original invite, the reminder, and at the beginning of the meeting. Make it clear that the meeting will be over at the appointed time, and conversations can be continued afterward via Slack or email if needed.

Set up a countdown clock so everyone can see how much time is left and be mindful of using it efficiently. (This can also make it obvious if someone is wasting time.)

On your agenda, set aside the last five to ten minutes for discussing everyone’s next steps after the meeting. Make sure you leave the meeting with action steps. Otherwise, what was the point of getting in the room in the first place? The moderator can proactively wrap the meeting up and make sure each person knows which action items they’re responsible for.

And if the meeting miraculously finishes early, don’t keep the people waiting, let everyone go on their merry way!

4Include Only Essential People

Do you love crowded meetings where everyone has an opinion and nothing can get decided? No, you don’t. No one does.

Turns out a great way to promote productivity and efficient time use is to keep your meetings small. Invite only the people who are playing a critical role in the meeting’s purpose and have a truly important reason to be there.

It may be tempting to invite anyone who is vaguely connected (“Sure, it would be good for you to be there!”), but if they’re not key players or decision-makers, they probably can’t contribute much to the meeting. In fact, they might even derail it.

So keep your guest list exclusive. The fewer people in the room, the more responsibility everyone feels. Try keeping it between five and ten people for decision making and planning, and expand that number to include additional voices if you need a brainstorming session.

Monday Motivation Hack: Set an Intention

“Set your intention.”

How does that make you feel? Inspired? Or did the flash of a pseudo-spiritual yoga sesh make you cringe?

You will be happy to know that intention-setting isn’t just for yoga buffs and the meditative among you. Observationally, psychologists have found evidence of greater levels of achievement when daily intentions are set and revisited.

Likewise, it’s important to understand that intentions are different things for different people. Some people set intentions as they would goals, while others set intentions that work more like guiding principles. All people set intentions to stay focused in their day-to-day lives.

Think of intention as a focal point for living—a goal or quality that you want to structure your life around.

How to Set an Intention

Many people who set intentions for their day do so during exercise, meditation, or a daily routine. You can choose to set your intention however you like, but it’s important that you take some time to carefully consider your intention and dedicate a few moments of focus to it.

To set an intention for your day,

1. Figure out what you stand for. It can be tempting to dive right into intention-setting without a lot of thought. However, taking a little time up front to understand your unique perspective in the world will go a long way to helping your intention resonate. It’s important here that you try not to compare yourself to others, but focus on bettering yourself against yourself. Good daily intentions set your focus around your personal values and as such are inspirational and motivating for you. First, however, you have to know what you value most and what you want to get out of life.
2. Decide when and how you will routinely set your intention. Mornings—the sooner after you wake up the better—are preferable for many as this helps set the tone for your day. Also consider whether you will write your intention down, muse on it to kick off your day, share it with a friend, or something else.
3. Clarify your intention. Now that you have an idea of what you want to center your focus on and know how you want to make it part of your daily life, decide what your intention actually is. Intentions can be short sentences or simply words that embody where you want your focus to be, such as “Live fully,” “show compassion,” “speak confidently,” or simply “Peaceful” or “Tenacious.” These words should embody for you something specific, some set of behaviors, so that when you state your intention, you understand what achieving your day’s intention would look like. Try to keep intentions positive. “Build community” is better than “Stop being shy.”
4. Set your intention. Declare. Write. Speak. Internalize. The day’s intention should be something that you come back to often in your thoughts and that can help guide your decisions and behavior throughout the day.

If you are struggling to get started on setting your intentions, Mindful Minutes has a helpful post that can help you get inspired.

Remaining Accountable to Your Intentions

It can be easy to go through the motions when it comes to little daily routines. It’s one thing to set your intention daily, but how do you live it?

As it turns out, intention-setting—like goal-setting—benefits greatly from feedback. This doesn’t necessarily have to be feedback from others; usually it’s a feedback loop you construct for yourself. Some people build an intention check into their evening routine: “Did I make progress on today’s intention?” This follow-through helps to hone your intentions and improve their quality over time.

Similarly, some people use associations to remind themselves of their intention throughout the day. For example, maybe you associate the intention “Confidence” with the color red. You can wear a red pin or red tie to help you stay mindful every time you look in the mirror or simply note confidence anytime you see the color red. Such mini check-ins will remind you to exude your intention while also forcing you to think about how well you’ve followed your intention until that point. It can also give you a sort of marker to track how often your thinking comes back to your intention throughout the day.

Do you set daily intentions? How did you get into it and how do you make it work for you?

Is It Flier or Flyer?

• A flyer can be one of several things: a pamphlet, something that flies, or a device you’d use to twist yarn.
• Flier is a also an accepted spelling of the word.
• Keep in mind, though, that the guidelines for the usage of flyer and flier vary from one style guide to another.

A flyer, a circular, a leaflet, a pamphlet, a handbill—so many words for one simple thing. A piece of paper with words and images printed on it that gets handed out on a street. Or, in modern times, even sent by email.

But while we’re sure we know what a flyer is, there is some confusion about how exactly to spell it. Is it “flyer,” or is it “flier?” Or is it that the different versions are used for different meanings? “Flyer” can also refer to a flying person or animal, for example. The answer to all of these questions is yes. “Flier” is an acceptable way to spell the word, as is “flyer.” According to some sources, the spellings are different according to the meaning of the word.

Flyer Meanings

When you say the word flyer, you could be talking about a couple of things. You might be referring to a pamphlet, a sheet of paper with words or pictures on it that is used for advertising, propaganda, or spreading information. This is the kind of flyer that’s mentioned in the following sentence:

Mia was handing out a flyer to promote her band’s first gig.

A flyer can also be a person, an animal, or an object that flies. If you often find yourself at the airport, waiting to board your flight, you might want to look into your preferred company’s frequent flyer program. And, in case you didn’t know, some birds are not good flyers, but the bar-tailed godwit certainly is:

The bar-tailed godwit is an excellent flyer; it can fly the entire length of the Pacific ocean.

Finally, a flyer is also a device used for twisting yarn. So if you’re into making your own yarn, a yarn flyer is something you should have:

Kevin bought a traditional double drive yarn flyer.

How to Spell Flyer

A lot of the confusion about the correct way to spell “flyer” comes not only from the fact that there is no standard way of doing it but also from the fact that different style manuals seem to prefer different spellings. The Elements of Style and the Chicago Manual of Style do not address the issue. Those in favor of “flier” include the Daily Telegraph, the Associated Press, and the American Heritage College Dictionary. Fans of “flyer” include the Guardian, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, and the Oxford Dictionaries website. In theGregg Reference Manual, a flier is a pilot and a flyer is an advertising brochure. Garner’s Modern English Usage identifies “flier” as standard in the United States and “flyer” as the British form. Style manuals and dictionaries don’t necessarily have to concur on all issues. In this case, the disagreement means that you get to choose how you spell “flyer.” Unless you’re obliged to follow a particular style manual, that is. Or you’re writing copy for an airline—it seems they strongly prefer to use flyer.

Examples: Flyer and Flyer in a Sentence

Speed flyers run or ski down slopes and then use special parachutes designed to let them fly fast and close to the ground. —CBS News

The question now appears to hinge on whether Mr Hanson is responsible for the election flyer, which was authorised by Mr Clode as campaign director. —The Canberra Times

Want to share your frequent flier miles with a friend or a family member? It may cost you. —The New York Times

Karsten remembers getting hit with a wave of sadness in the hospital after delivering her daughter, Annika, but she dismissed it and tucked away the flier from the social worker with the MOMS number. —The Chicago Tribune

Do You Use a Comma Before “So”?

Should you place a comma before so when it joins two clauses in a sentence? The answer depends on whether the clause introduced by so is an independent or dependent clause. If so begins an independent clause, a comma should precede it, but if it begins a dependent clause, leave it out.

Let’s have a look at how commas are used before so in the middle of a sentence.

Use a Comma with “So” + an Independent Clause

An independent clause is a clause that would convey a complete thought if it were to be set apart as a sentence on its own. In literary terms, it is a clause that can stand on its own two feet. Here is an example of a sentence consisting of two independent clauses.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed a great city, but some of Pompeii’s frescoes were preserved in the ash.

There are two independent clauses here, joined by the coordinating conjunction but. Although it would result in a more stilted writing style, each could stand separately as a sentence and still be correct.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed a great city.

Some of Pompeii’s frescoes were preserved in the ash.

So is one of seven coordinating conjunctions represented by the mnemonic FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet,and so. When these coordinating conjunctions connect two independent clauses, the conjunction is always preceded by a comma.

The grocery store was out of tomatoes, so I borrowed some from my neighbor.

Daniel had the highest score in math in the whole school, so he was made principal for the day.

Simple, right? Not exactly, because one of the seven FANBOYS conjunctions listed above is leading a double life—and it happens to be so.

Don’t Use a Comma with “So” + a Dependent Clause

Socan also be used as a subordinating conjunction to connect an independent clause and a dependent clause. A dependent clause needs an independent clause to form a complete thought.

I ran for shelter when it began to rain.

In this example, when it began to rain could not stand on its own as a complete thought. It leaves the reader asking what happened when it began to rain. After all, it begins with the subordinating conjunction when.

So can also be used as a subordinating conjunction, and when it is used this way, it is not preceded by a comma.

I went to the store so I could buy tomatoes.

Carl studied hard so he could pass the test.

A Quick Trick for Deciding If You Need a Comma before “So”

If you are unsure if you should place a comma before so in the middle of your sentence, try replacing so with “therefore” or “so that.” If your sentence seems to work with a replacement of “therefore” without changing the meaning of the sentence, then so is a coordinating conjunction and should have a comma before it. Let’s revisit one of our examples above.

Daniel had the highest score in math in the whole school, so he was made principal for the day.

Daniel had the highest score in math in the whole school, therefore he was made principal for the day.

The sentence still works, so we know that so is a coordinating conjunction here and is entitled to its comma. So that can be used in a similar way to confirm that so is being used as a subordinating conjunction.

I went to the store so I could buy tomatoes.

I went to the store so that I could buy tomatoes.

Because the substitution works, we know that there should be no comma in the sentence.

#GrammarDay Celebrity Personality Quiz: Is Your Grammar Like a Pop Star or a Comedian?

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Are you curious how all the celebrities did? Learn more about our #GrammarDay MVPs in our recent study.

Do You Write Carmel or Caramel?

Six Bookish Songs to Spread Holiday Cheer

Merry LitMas!

Just kidding, we’re only on the sixth day of LitMas, so we haven’t finished giving you gifts of well-read knowledge yet. Today, we’re departing from booklists and reading tips for something you can tap your toes to. That’s right, we’ve created a playlist of tunes inspired by famous works of literature. And we have to admit, we love the creativity behind all of these bookish songs.

1 Christmas at Hogwarts by Harry and the Potters

We’re starting with a classic literary band, Harry and the Potters! Although it was hard to choose just one song from their Christmas-in-the-wizarding-world-themed album, this short but sweet number rose to the top. Fun fact: if their name wasn’t enough to suggest a literary connection, this powerhouse group once played at the New York Public Library! Absolutely magical.

2 Narnia by Steve Hackett

What’s more festive than The Chronicles of Narnia? This lovely ode to C. S. Lewis’s fantasy masterpiece is certain to set you in a bright and cheery mood, even if it describes eternal winter and lost children.

3 The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins by Leonard Nimoy

You read that right, Leonard Nimoy once recorded a two-minute-21-second ballad about the merits and trials of Bilbo Baggins. We don’t think we need to say much more here, since this is obviously an instant nerd classic.

4 Atticus by The Noisettes

Harper Lee’s passing this year was a tragedy for the literary world. Luckily, some great artists have commemorated her work, so remembering her can be as easy as listening to a track. This tribute from The Noisettes is light, sweet, and beautiful, just like the novel it references.

5 Gold by Imagine Dragons

Ok, we have to admit that this entry is slightly stretching the definition of literary. Imagine Dragons based this track loosely on the Midas myth, without referencing any one author or work. But hey, what’s the holiday season without a little fun?

6 Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush

Although the reference may be obvious, this song probably captures the emotions of its reference work better than any other on this list. Kate Bush has been listed as an influence for a number of current artists, and this hit shows what a powerhouse she is.

If you’d like to listen to more literary jams, we made a Spotify playlist with a few of our favorite bookish tunes. Did we forget any of your favorites?

Not-So-Sweet Game 5: Background Noise Nuisances vs. Should’ve Spoken IRL

In the battle for the worst call habits, we’ve had some solid contenders. Our followers overwhelmingly agreed that background noise and calling instead of chatting in person are two of the worst. Do you agree? Vote for the absolute worst below.

Background Noise Nuisances

We’ve all joined a call where the other participants sounded like they were either in an echo chamber, a wind tunnel, or the middle of Times Square. Nobody likes those calls, and nobody likes distracting background noise.

When You Should’ve Spoken IRL

Or, in an attempt to save time and energy on the team, you condense an update on a project to an email then zip it off to the stakeholders. A few hours later you’ve got an inbox full of questions and at least one very confused engineer. You’ve drastically underestimated the complexity of the update; you should have spoken in real life.

5 Retro Games that Made Us Better People

You’re having an average morning at the office, when suddenly word ripples out from the corner suite: the boss is going to visit a major potential client this afternoon, and she wants the latest version of the demo ready to show off. A wave of adrenaline sweeps the room—this is all hands on deck.

The copywriter and designers launch into vetting every scrap of text and making sure every element on the screen will be pixel-perfect. Their actions come naturally; there is no fumbling, no time to second-guess. Meanwhile the developers and project manager scramble furiously to make sure every last tweak is going to fit—if something in the code breaks now, there might not be enough time to push through a fix. An exhilarating (if unexpected) test of your team’s abilities is now underway.

A lesser version of yourself might hyperventilate in this situation, but you’re so immersed in the task at hand you hardly have time to reflect on this. If you came up for air now, you might even realize you’re thrilled—it’s as though you’ve been preparing for this kind of challenge your whole life.

In a way, maybe you have been. Do you think all those old games you grew up playing had anything to do with it?

Perhaps you have fond memories of looking over a parent’s shoulder while they played solitaire, instilling an early appreciation for sequencing and spotting patterns. Or maybe anytime you think about strategic ways to keep your project’s options open, it all comes back to those kitchen-table games of poker with your cousins.

Did you surmount your first failure to negotiate a grand bargain after a botched transaction involving Park Place and a get-out-of-jail-free card? Did you learn about admitting you need help from the time you had to wake up that one kid at the slumber party who knew how to wall-jump in Super Metroid?

Maybe you took down enough bosses in Zelda with just a single a heart remaining that you’ll forever know how to keep your cool in dicy situations. Or maybe all those late nights playing Contra at your friend’s house taught you the value of leaving a few power-ups for your teammate to grab.

Whatever your games of choice were back then, we think it all might’ve factored in over the years to help shape the collaborator you’ve since become. Here’s a look at some of the games that taught us a thing or two about teamwork in the days before gamers wore headsets.

1 Chrono Trigger

This Super Nintendo classic centers on a plucky band of six (or seven—we’ll get to that) friends who represent different epochs of human progress, all united around their modest shared goal of averting an apocalypse.

Besides their disparate strengths, the characters all showcase unique styles of communication: The cursed frog (birthname: Glenn) speaks at times like a character from Chaucer, while cavegirl Ayla’s diction is still more . . . primitive. Spikey-haired swordsman Crono hardly speaks at all throughout the game.

But despite their many dissimilarities, the team does its best work together, with three-character ensembles uniting to cast spells that combine their best traits—for instance blending Crono’s lightning magic with the fire of Lucca (the prodigious inventor) and water magic from Marle (the crossbow-toting princess).

Along the way, the time-traveling team has opportunities to help right each other’s wrongs—stopping a horrible accident from befalling Lucca’s mother, for instance, or helping Glenn lay to rest the ghost of a slain knight. In a true testament to the game’s collaborative spirit, you can even forgive and recruit Magus, the shadow wizard who earlier in the game had seemed the middle ages’ main fount of evil.

Chrono Trigger remains a beautiful gamerly encapsulation of the power of working with a team, however wonky or arcane your colleagues and their strengths may seem.

2 Starcraft

The ne plus ultra of real-time strategy, Starcraft is a game where no one unit can single-handedly win a match, but the most skilled players make certain that every humble drone they spawn or probe they assemble counts for something.

As with Chrono Trigger (albeit here on a galactic scale) the single-player campaigns in Starcraft often center on peculiar alliances of disparate forces: the scrappy human space explorers (Terrans, to use the game’s parlance) teaming with the noble but sometimes conceited Protoss aliens, for instance, to halt the advance of the prolific, bug-like Zerg.

Connecting online or via local-area networks (remember LAN parties?) also made for fun hours battling alongside friends. Such endeavors found you delegating some tasks (mine your own minerals and explore the map as you can) while intersecting on shared goals (let’s position some siege tanks and templars over the cliff above the opponent’s expansion). And in the true spirit of teamwork, a team with human medics could even heal an ally’s alien hydralisks!

For anyone whose job involves managing a complex and growing team in an uncertain and rapidly evolving environment, Starcraft might just feel familiar.

3 Rummikub

You might remember this tile-based classic from summer nights with your grandparents; it fits somewhere between gin rummy and Scrabble in the taxonomy of games.

As a pastime where you not only build numeric patterns of your own but also break apart and reassemble combinations played by others, your every incremental step toward victory in Rummikub might also provide the breakthrough someone else needs in order to win. In other words, to inch toward success, you can’t help but nudge others closer to winning, as well—how’s that for built-in collaboration?

As an occasional bonus, trying to combo your way to victory through a dramatic (if not convoluted) series of moves in a crowded late-game board occasionally just fizzles and goes awry. The solution? Other players have to help you puzzle the board back to its original state.

4 The Adventures of Lolo

The NES Lolo series proved unique in an era of games like Mario and Tetris that tend to reward sharp reflexes and hand-eye coordination.

Lolo’s gameplay revolves around recognizing patterns and devising the best sequence for the adorable blue protagonist (the third installment also features his pink counterpart, Lala) to navigate obstacles like rivers and mazes, as well as a slew of quirky enemies. As a result, quick thumbs proved a secondary asset in Lolo, next to patience and a willingness to experiment.

Consequently, a few people could easily sit around the screen, passing the controller and plotting different solutions to each level (as your humble blogger did with his mom and brother in the bygone era of brick-and-mortar video stores).

There are many doors into the thriving world of collaborative puzzle games (consider tabletop gems like Forbidden Island) but for a certain set of people whose work all hinges on planning things in the right order, the sound of a Lolo-esque treasure chest springing open will forever play in their minds as they close in on their final task each day.

5 Magic: The Gathering

As digital games grow ever more popular, paper Magic might just endure (the strategy trading-card game is nearly twenty-five years old now) partly because it can provide something of a respite for people whose careers involve looking at screens all day.

As a recruiter for a tech company in San Francisco, Kevin Ligutom weeds through massive stacks of resumes just to pluck out a small handful of winning candidates. Along the way, he sifts through a variety of metrics and has to know which numbers matter and which ones are just noise. In the end, he has to communicate these results to hiring managers, lawyers, and H.R.

While Kevin is often at the hub of a wheel with many spokes, one thing that helps is his longtime hobby: slinging cards in Legacy, Magic’s highly competitive equivalent of Formula One racing. Experienced Legacy players know hundreds of cards purely by memory, and are comfortable sifting through reams of data about everything from popular tournament-winning decks to lethal new uses for long-out-of-print cards.

In other words, Kevin says, his hobby is a lot like his job: “I need to be able to tell management how long it will take to fill a given role. Part of that is giving them both metrics and my analysis of those numbers based on my experience. Magic got me really comfortable with that kind of thinking.”

Whatever your assignment might be today, we hope you have fun—and maybe even make a game out of it.

8 Things We Can All Learn From Elizabeth Kolbert

If you’re looking for an inspiring female author from whose work you might glean a few writerly pointers, you needn’t search far. Whether you’re a hardcore fiction buff or always hungry for a fresh memoir, the world of words is suffering no shortage of brilliant women.

Recent fiction luminaires include Hanya Yanagihara—a longtime writer by trade but a relative newcomer to the realm of novels. Her latest was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize and was a 2015 National Book Award finalist. Then there’s Karen Russell, the MacArthur “Genius” Grant winner whose debut novel was a 2012 Pulitzer finalist. And Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, another “Genius” Grant winner whose novels have garnered a string of awards, and whose speech “We should all be feminists” was sampled by Beyoncé.

The nonfiction side of writing also boasts an abundance of female heroes, like Emily Nussbaum, who won a 2016 Pulitzer for her prolific and thoughtful TV criticism, and her fellow New Yorker writer, Elizabeth Kolbert.

A journalist, author, and adventurer seasoned by more than three decades of writing experience, Kolbert is perhaps best known for her book The Sixth Extinction, which won a 2015 Pulitzer for nonfiction.

Kolbert’s writing is sharp, scientifically complex, politically fraught, and at times darkly funny. In short, she’s exactly the type of author worth studying for hints about the craft. Here are a few we’ve picked up:

1 Leave home. Talk to strangers.

Elizabeth Kolbert’s writing refuses to stay chained to a desk. Not content to muse from home about melting ice sheets, for instance, she journeys with scientists to the distant reaches of Greenland.

Indeed, Kolbert’s travels transport readers to far-flung places like the Great Barrier Reef, the Amazon rainforest, and an utterly wild preserve in the Netherlands. Along the way, she propels us forward using scenes with working experts, providing not just their scientific perspectives but also glimpses into their, er, natural habitats.

It’s the kind of writing that shows not everything has been done or written before—and that truth can be stranger than fiction. Make a habit of venturing outside your head and out into the world, and your writing will be indelible.

2 Show—and also tell.

You’ve probably run across that writerly dictum “show, don’t tell” before, but sometimes the situation calls for both. When Kolbert sets out to explain ocean acidification, she pulls on a wetsuit and takes us scuba diving. Any time she wants to describe a complex scientific finding based on an esoteric lab technique, she goes to the lab and has an expert walk us through the process.

This approach lets Kolbert grapple with wonky concepts (like geologic epochs) while still relating a concrete story (a hike to a rocky outcropping with a group of geologists). When you opt to show and tell, you deliver a bevy of facts in a story that’s more memorable than any sterile treatise.

3 Be adaptable.

It’s good to devise plans, but it’s also good to shred them if they’re not working or if other opportunities arise. In an interview with The Open Notebook, Kolbert relates one small adaptation she had to discover in the field, in order to take notes while swimming:

The most challenging thing was reporting underwater. That is the hardest thing—when you see these amazing things underwater, but what can you do? You can’t take notes. When I was in Hawaii snorkeling, the scientists had these plastic slates with a special pencil to keep track of their experiments, that you can write on underwater. They loaned me one of those, so I took all my notes on my plastic tablet and transcribed it when I got back to shore.

In that same interview, Kolbert also speaks to the process of making adjustments based on her subjects’ schedules:

I try to go on reporting trips when things are happening, but deadlines are complicated and things that only happen once a year are hard to plan around. For the book, a couple of times I tagged along on an expedition. Sometimes people kindly staged expeditions for me, but I had to work around their schedules. Some things took a year to schedule properly. You have a lot more time when it’s your own book. Or maybe you don’t really—my book was way overdue.

Be flexible when you can. Kolbert’s willingness to shrug off her book’s initial timetable eventually paid off with a Pulitzer-caliber result.

4 Let yourself appear in the work, once in a while.

The question of how often you, as the writer, should insert yourself into a story that isn’t expressly about you is often debated.

Kolbert doesn’t readily personalize every story she publishes, but she does occasionally step in and describe her own experiences—like a night she spent at a sleep center with electrodes on her scalp and tubes in her nose for a story about the science of insomnia. In The Sixth Extinction, for a section about backpacking in mountainous Peru, she includes an aside about a shopping bag full of coca leaves presented to her by an ecologist:

The leaves were leathery and tasted like old books. Soon my lips grew numb, and my aches and pains began to fade. An hour or two later, I was back for more. (Many times since have I wished for that shopping bag.)

Kolbert has chosen the setting of this chapter for other reasons, but having brought us here, she doesn’t shy away from a flavorful detail. This is the key: finding a happy middle ground that’s neither self-indulgent nor invisible.

5 Don’t let anyone tell you you’re unqualified.

Your writing doesn’t have to be circumscribed by your credentials. Elizabeth Kolbert is many things, but she is not a scientist. All the same, she’s not dissuaded from researching and sharing insights on subjects from colonizing Mars to the future of automation.

Sometimes what’s important isn’t so much technical expertise as the ability to do your homework and to zoom out and recognize what will be important to your audience.

6 Persist.

Just because recognition doesn’t come overnight doesn’t mean it’s not coming.

Kolbert began her career as a newspaper reporter in the mid-1980s; she headed the New York Times’ Albany bureau from 1988 to 1991. By the time she became a New Yorker staff writer in 1999, she’d been grinding out stories for some fifteen years. Even then, she was still years of hard work away from the National Magazine Award she eventually won for her 2005 series The Climate of Man.

Be patient; keep showing up and putting in the work.

7 Keep your readers guessing.

A reader who can easily predict what you’re about to say may not remain a reader for long. One way Kolbert keeps us hooked is by interjecting an occasional wry observation or utterly startling turn of phrase, as with the ending of this thought:

If nearly half the occupations in the U.S. are ‘potentially automatable,’ and if this could play out within ‘a decade or two,’ then we are looking at economic disruption on an unparalleled scale. Picture the entire Industrial Revolution compressed into the life span of a beagle.

Weren’t expecting that, were you? One other pointer we glean from Kolbert—this technique is most effective when applied sparingly; you don’t want to wear it out.

8 Enjoy the work.

Kolbert’s writing could hardly be called whimsical, and often gravitates to matters of extinction and survival. The subjects can feel as grim as a cave full of diseased bats in winter. But that doesn’t mean the day-to-day work of finding words for it is miserable; Kolbert makes a point of traveling to fascinating places and seeking out compelling characters.

Though few writers have the luxury of working exclusively on projects they cherish every minute of, the job doesn’t have to be a pure slog. Find and nurture the aspect of writing that drives you, and the rest will be that much easier.