Act Now to Propel Your Writing Project To Joyful Completion

The 1:1 Writing Program With Rose is now accepting registrations for June start dates.

Is your story, essay, memoir or other piece of writing screaming to get out of your mind and onto paper? Did you start a project and lose your momentum mid-stream?  

Give it life and get it done!

The guidance and support provided through the five-week 1:1 Writing Program With Rose helps renew your focus, confidence and enthusiasm for writing and completing your project.

For details and to register, visit the Private Coaching page.

Its Magic - It's Magic!

Every writing contest judge, editor and instructor has a grammatical pet peeve. And so do readers. Mine is the misuse of "it is" and "it's." It's bad enough when I see their misuse in email and other casual communications. But when a reportedly professional publication misuses them, I cringe! It's enough to make me quit reading. I catch myself thinking, "If they can't get this right, how valid are their facts?"

If its and it's confuse you, here's an easy way to test which is correct.

• If you can replace the letters i-t-s with "it is," use it's, which is the contraction for "it is." For example: The liquid removes the stain immediately. It's magic!  (It is magic.)
• If you cannot replace the word with "it is," use its, which is a possessive pronoun. For example: The liquid removes the stain immediately. Its magic comes from a secret ingredient. Would it make sense to say "It is magic comes from a secret ingredient"? No. In this example, "its" is a possessive pronoun referring to the liquid. Instead of saying, "The liquid's magic comes from a secret ingredient," you can say, "Its magic comes from a secret ingredient."

The test: If you can replace the letters i-t-s with "it is," use "it's." If you can't, use "its." 

And never, ever use its'. The writing gods will have a hissy fit!