Clark of Words

A Journal of Random Things

A Journal of Random Things

Just a collection of random stuff, mostly about writing.

  • Writing Critique Partners

    I came across the idea of finding a critique partner while listening to a podcast from Helping Writers Become Authors (http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/podcasts/). This seemed like a brilliant idea – a different way to get a perspective on my writing, and to help others with theirs – and a good supplement to my monthly writers’ group meetings.…

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  • May 16 Bird list

    May 2016 bird species in and around our garden: Blackbird; Collared Dove; Siskin; Jackdaw; Crow; House Sparrow; Chaffinch; Robin; Red Kite; Coal Tit; Goldfinch; Greenfinch; Swallow; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Oyster Catcher; Song Thrush; Geese; Buzzard; Swift; Bullfinch; Gull; Wood Pigeon

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  • A Question of Titles

    Does anyone know which of these sentences is the most correct: “Mr Smith went to the market.” “Mister Smith went to the market.” Would there be occasions when one form would be preferred over the other?    

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  • April 2016 Bird List

    The month of April saw the following birds in or above our back garden: Blackbird Siskin Chaffinch House Sparrow Red Kite Collared Dove Robin Jackdaw Goldfinch Nuthatch Coal Tit Redpoll Great Tit Song Thrush Sparrow Hawk Dunnock Crow Hen (from our neighbour’s again!) Blue Tit Heron Gull (not sure which variety) Greenfinch Swallow The first…

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  • Info-dump Podcast

    I’ve just listened to the 335th podcast in the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast by KM Weiland, and very interesting it is too. I’ve been impressed by the quality of the information in this series since I came across it, but was particularly interested in this episode on Info-dumps where she outlines four different types…

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  • Bird by Bird

    I’m reading Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” which I picked up second hand from Amazon, and am loving every minute of it. This is a humorous look at how to write well, with an accessible delivery that makes it easy to take in. Two lessons have stood out for…

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  • March 2016 Birdlist

    Here’s the second in the occasional series of birds we have spotted in our garden during the last month. Just like a talent show’s results, the list is in no particular order: Chaffinch Blue Tit Siskin Sparrow Blackbird Goldfinch Coal Tit Red Kite Collared Dove Robin Jackdaw Crow Great Tit Nut Hatch Barnacle Goose Greenfinch…

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  • Train Blues

    For the third time in a month my train doesn’t get any further south than Lancaster on it’s route to Manchester Airport, its scheduled stop. Why? Because they don’t have enough train drivers. Really TransPennine Express? Really? Lucky for me I only go as far as Lockerbie…  

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  • Gardening Ouch!

    With the first real glint of spring, we finally got around to putting a couple of slabs down in front of our compost bins, and surrounded them with wood chips. It’s a huge improvement from the slippery mess we had before. Now, we can look forward to emptying our compost with a much reduced risk…

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  • Quiz Night

    On Friday I co-hosted a quiz night in the local village hall. This was the first time I’ve ever had to do this and came about because our team won the previous month’s competition. It’s quite hard trying to be competitive in a competition that you don’t want to win, and last month we misjudged…

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