More Periods, Less Conjunctions?

Although this writing coach doesn't specialize in writing fiction, Ann Wylie's advice frequently makes me sit up and take notice. I also love some of the less well-known quotes she digs up. Like this one, from one of the many writing books next to my desk:

“There’s not much to be said about the period, except that most writers don’t reach it soon enough.”

William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well

If you write for business, you may already know about her writing newsletter, but this one caught my attention. Click here to read what she says about Shorter Sentences.
(You may need to scroll around a bit, but her site is worth it.)

Now, excuse me while I depart the blog. I believe I have some conjunctions to "search and destroy."

Click here for my older post about Ann Wylie's newsletter, with a link to another website where I just wasted quite a few precious minutes. But totally fun minutes.

Twitter/ Tweet/ Twriter

OK, I'm not a twitterer/ tweeter/ twriter, but I loved this comment:

Twitter has been called "The Seinfeld of the Internet — a site about nothing."

It came from a very old email I just uncovered, sent from Ann Wylie's newsletter. The newsletter basically has nothing to do with the kind of writing I read, or write for that matter. But I frequently uncover a gem of advice, so I keep on reading. Even if I don't open the July email until October...

And actually, I did find the greatest site by following her link to Word Spy, the Word Lovers' Guide to New Words:
(Forget Twitter, there's a place I could spend/ waste a whole lot of time.)

"Social notworking
pp. Surfing a social networking site instead of working. Also: social not-working — social notworker n."