Writing Tip 399: “Emoji” vs. “Emoticon”

"Emoji" vs. "Emoticon"

Sometimes this writing stuff is serious business. And sometimes, it’s finally realizing that yes, there is a difference between “emoji” vs. “emoticon.” One of these words somehow even feels a bit “old school” already. Weird, huh?

Is this a writing rule that your past grammar teachers would have been strict about? Probably not. Depending on your age, these words might not have even existed when you had grammar teachers, but with Y2K as my witness, it’s time to get this right. More

Write It Down – Journal Prompt #8 (video)

So much has happened over the past months. So much was going to happen, perhaps, but didn’t. What happened with those plans? Were they cancelled? Were they transformed?

Write it down. People adapt. It’s what we do. It’s one of humanity’s strongest traits. We find ways to keep going, even when those ways are something we never would have guessed possible a short time ago.

Prompt #8: Start with today’s date. Then pick something that was supposed to happen in one way during this time but that had to change dramatically. What was the original plan? What did the change look like? This is your excuse to capture a moment in your life like a time capsule. You’re living through history. Be bold enough to preserve everything about it. This is a moment where we can all be historians. Let’s embrace it.

This is the journal prompt #8 in my #WriteItDown Series.

Previous #WriteItDown journal prompts:

Follow along here on my blog, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Everyone has a story to add to this moment. Add your voice.

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Writing Tip 398: “Bachelors” or “Bachelor’s” degree? (Is there an apostrophe?)

"Bachelors” or “Bachelor’s” degree? (Is there an apostrophe?)

Are those graduation caps hanging up there like apostrophes? Yes? No? Maybe?

There’s nothing like the pride of earning that diploma after years of hard work, but there can be little more embarrassing than making a mistake when talking about your well earned degree.

Is it a “bachelors degree” or a “bachelor’s degree”?
Is it a “masters degree” or a “master’s degree”?

Since the youngest of your school days, punctuation has been out to get you hasn’t it? Just kidding. That punctuation can do you no more harm than an angry emoticon (different from an emoji … more on that soon), but not knowing your punctuation marks can be a roadblock when it appears on your resume. More

Write It Down – Journal Prompt #7 (video)

When everything we know about our world is flipped on its head, we adapt. We shift. We do what we need to do, yet we realize that there will be trickle effects of this moment.

For Writing Prompt #7: Write down today’s date. Then pick an element of your life that has drastically changed (your work, your family life, your relationships, something new because of a choice that you had to make…), and consider the greater effects of that shift. What will be the take-aways from this moment that will continue in some way, after today has passed? Are there lessons learned? Are there new epiphanies that will reshape your future?

Write it down. Because we’re living through history. World history. Your life history. Keep going. Keep scribbling. Keep typing. And take care, everyone.

This is the journal prompt #7 in my #WriteItDown Series.

Previous #WriteItDown journal prompts:

Follow along here on my blog, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Everyone has a story to add to this moment. Add your voice.

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Write It Down – Journal Prompt #6 (video)

What is amazing about people is that every single one of us has a story to share. Maybe we tell them. Maybe we don’t. Maybe we express them around the dinner table or at a child’s bedtime. Maybe they are told in family histories written down or memoirs or in art or in dance or poetry. Maybe we tell our stories in the traditions that we pass down from generation to generation.

Right now, you are living through a story in your life that I’m guessing you’ll never forget. How will you preserve it?

You get to decide.

For journal prompt #6: Journal your day today, what’s different from the moment you work up to how you go about your daily to-do’s, to how you communicate with others around you, to how you end your day at the end of the night.

Things are different. What is it that you’ll remember about this, that perhaps you’ve never put down into words? For this entry, begin with the words, “I’ll always remember…” and then keep going, with wherever that start takes you.

Write it down.

This is a diary, a journal like nothing humanity has ever written before. Just think about that. And you have the ability to be the author who tells the tale. Who shares what only you know. What only you have experienced. Write it down.

Keep going. Take care, everyone.

This is the journal prompt #6 in my #WriteItDown Series.

Previous #WriteItDown journal prompts:

Next #WriteItDown journal prompt:

Follow along here on my blog, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Everyone has a story to add to this moment. Add your voice.

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Write It Down – Journal Prompt #5 (video)

Storytelling is an ancient tradition. As far back as at least Herodotus, we have collected our stories to preserve moments in time, to save them from being forgotten, to remember what it was like to live through a moment that changed the course of our lives. Some of these moments are small. Some of these moments are breathtaking and world-changing. We’re living through one of these moments. Write it down.

For journal prompt #5: What was the moment when this new reality set in for you, when it wasn’t just something in some far off place, when it wasn’t an abstract fear but a true new reality? What was it that you heard or saw or learned that made you realized that things would be different?

And then what were your first reactions? How did you prep yourself? Your family? Your home? What did you make sure you had a supply of?

You can keep going with this idea, of course, what did you think you’d need a lot of but that hasn’t really mattered? What do you wish you had thought of in those early epiphany moments? What do you wish you had done? What are you so happy that you did do?

Write it down. Write it all down.

Perfection doesn’t matter. There’s no due date and no one’s eyes need to see it but your own unless you wanted to share it. You get to decide.

Just tell your story. Because that’s what people do. We have since the beginning of time. And we always will. Add your voice to the record.

This is the journal prompt #5 in my #WriteItDown Series.

Previous #WriteItDown journal prompts:

Next #WriteItDown journal prompts:

Follow along here on my blog, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Everyone has a story to add to this moment. Add your voice.

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Write It Down – Journal Prompt #4 (video)

There are moments in history that have probably always intrigued you, making you wonder what it was like to live in a certain place, to walk down a certain street, and to watch the shifts in a neighborhood during a specific, historic time period. Now flip those questions around.

For journal prompt #4, think about your city, your town, your world right now. Capture that story. Capture your story. Write it down.

This is the journal prompt #4 in my #WriteItDown Series. Follow along with me as we keep recording our stories in this moment we’ll never forget. (See Prompt #1, Prompt #2, and Prompt #3)

Follow along here on my blog, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Everyone has a story to add to this moment. Add your voice.

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Write It Down – Journal Prompt #3 (video)

We’ve been on this journal writing journey together, because this is a time like no other in your lifetime, because this is a time difficult to process, because this is a time you have the ability to preserve with your stories and your voice. We all have a voice. Let yours be a part of this moment in history. Write it down.

For journal prompt #3, let’s talk about relationships. Who do you live with? How’s everyone doing? How does everyone show their feelings? How have you had a chance to connect in new ways? Who’s not with you that you wish was? And lastly, what about your relationship with yourself? Are you treating yourself kindly in the midst of all of this?

Write it down.

This is the journal prompt #3 in my #WriteItDown Series. Follow along with me as we keep recording our stories in this moment we’ll never forget. (See Prompt #1 and Prompt #2)

Follow along here on my blog, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Everyone has a story to add to this moment. Add your voice.

Previous #WriteItDown journal prompts:

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Write It Down – Journal Prompt #2 (video)

We don’t always take the time to pause and appreciate the little things that bring us joy. But right now, in this moment of your life, let’s pause. Collect your thoughts and truly take in the realities of your day. Start by writing today’s date then keep going.

Today’s prompt: What is your favorite thing about your home? A specific room? A specific nook? A specific shady tree? The smell of your kitchen at dinner time? What is something so simple that you’ve never even thought to write down before? Now write it down.

This is the journal prompt #2 in my #WriteItDown Series. Follow along with me as we keep recording our stories in this moment we’ll never forget. (See Prompt #1)

Follow along here on my blog, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Everyone has a story to add to this moment. Add your voice.

Previous #WriteItDown journal prompts:

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Write It Down – Journal Prompt #1 (video)

Everyone has a story. In this moment of history especially, take a few minutes to capture your day-to-day. Journal it. Start with today’s date. Then record all of the details you can think of. Hopes. Fears. New realities. Your future self will thank you for it.

Whether you have ever considered yourself a “writer” or not, #WriteItDown. And if you need a partner on this journey, I’m here for you. Today, we’re starting with Journal Prompt #1.

Follow along here on my blog, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Everyone has a story to add to this moment. Add your voice.

Next #WriteItDown journal prompts:

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