How Do I Blog?

So, I know it’s been like a year since you’ve seen or heard anything from me, but I’d like to ask you guys for a favor.

I need help finding somebody. A dog, not one I own, but one I had hoped to own and came so close to owning.

She’s a basset hound named Daisy Mae/May (the shelter and the website had different spellings) and she was being fostered through a shelter in Fenton, Michigan. She has a scar on her right ear, she’s four years old, her favorite toy is a stuffed lamb called Lambchop, and I think she came from Kentucky. My mom and I went out to visit her on Friday, May 17, 2019 and set it up with the foster to come back on Sunday to formally adopt her (my mom had a wedding rehearsal to attend and the actual wedding the next day, so we didn’t have enough time for the adoption interview Friday)

Through a series of disappointing events/decisions, she ended up going to an adoption event at the Detroit Zoo in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday, May 18 and got adopted there. It’s not really anybody’s fault in particular, just a lack of communication it sounds like.

I’m hoping you guys might be able to help me find out who adopted her.

I’m not looking to take Daisy May away from them or make anybody feel bad about anything that’s happened, but part of what’s hurting so bad about this is not knowing where she ended up. That’s all I want to know. Knowing where she is and that whoever got her really loves her I think will help me feel a little better.

We lost my dog of nine years last year to cancer. When I met Daisy May, it really felt like she filled a hole I thought had healed over at least a little. It sounds cliché and cheesy, I know. But I really connected to her. I felt whole again. Within ten minutes of meeting her, I knew I loved her and wanted her more than anything in the world. There was no hesitation, no feeling like I wouldn’t care about her as much as I care about our other dog.

When I found out she’d been adopted by someone else, I went home and locked myself in my room to cry, and then did the same thing again later after failing to take my mind off it. I actually went to my mom because I needed to be held - I never ask for that. Not even a night’s sleep has dulled the pain very much. I still can’t thing about anything else. Last night I told God I’d give up Skyrim and that he could cancel The Elder Scrolls series if it meant things could be changed (and I LOVE the Elder Scrolls like I used to love Supernatural).

To be honest, my hopes aren’t super high for this, but I’m still going to try and would appreciate any assistance you guys could give. Reblogging, asking your Michigan friends, anything. Like I said, I am not out to take her away or make anyone hurt, I’m just looking for some peace of mind.

You guys are the best.

So, I know it’s been like a year since you’ve seen or heard anything from me, but I’d like to ask you guys for a favor.

I need help finding somebody. A dog, not one I own, but one I had hoped to own and came so close to owning.

She’s a basset hound named Daisy Mae/May (the shelter and the website had different spellings) and she was being fostered through a shelter in Fenton, Michigan. She has a scar on her right ear, she’s four years old, her favorite toy is a stuffed lamb called Lambchop, and I think she came from Kentucky. My mom and I went out to visit her on Friday, May 17, 2019 and set it up with the foster to come back on Sunday to formally adopt her (my mom had a wedding rehearsal to attend and the actual wedding the next day, so we didn’t have enough time for the adoption interview Friday)

Through a series of disappointing events/decisions, she ended up going to an adoption event at the Detroit Zoo in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday, May 18 and got adopted there. It’s not really anybody’s fault in particular, just a lack of communication it sounds like.

I’m hoping you guys might be able to help me find out who adopted her.

I’m not looking to take Daisy May away from them or make anybody feel bad about anything that’s happened, but part of what’s hurting so bad about this is not knowing where she ended up. That’s all I want to know. Knowing where she is and that whoever got her really loves her I think will help me feel a little better.

We lost my dog of nine years last year to cancer. When I met Daisy May, it really felt like she filled a hole I thought had healed over at least a little. It sounds cliché and cheesy, I know. But I really connected to her. I felt whole again. Within ten minutes of meeting her, I knew I loved her and wanted her more than anything in the world. There was no hesitation, no feeling like I wouldn’t care about her as much as I care about our other dog.

When I found out she’d been adopted by someone else, I went home and locked myself in my room to cry, and then did the same thing again later after failing to take my mind off it. I actually went to my mom because I needed to be held - I never ask for that. Not even a night’s sleep has dulled the pain very much. I still can’t thing about anything else. Last night I told God I’d give up Skyrim and that he could cancel The Elder Scrolls series if it meant things could be changed (and I LOVE the Elder Scrolls like I used to love Supernatural).

To be honest, my hopes aren’t super high for this, but I’m still going to try and would appreciate any assistance you guys could give. Reblogging, asking your Michigan friends, anything. Like I said, I am not out to take her away or make anyone hurt, I’m just looking for some peace of mind.

You guys are the best.

(Twitter)

President Velveeta plagiarized his inauguration cake.

A. Cake.

After putting my writing on hold for several weeks, I decided to jump back in. I expected to find all sorts of problems with my story–inconsistencies in the plot, lack of transitions, poor characterization–the works. But what began to stick out to me was something to which I’d given little thought in writing.

Filter words.

What are Filter Words?

Actually, I didn’t even know these insidious creatures had a name until I started combing the internet for info.

Filter words are those that unnecessarily filter the reader’s experience through a character’s point of view. Dark Angel’s Blog says:

“Filtering” is when you place a character between the detail you want to present and the reader. The term was started by Janet Burroway in her book On Writing.

In terms of example, you should watch out for:

To see

To hear

To think

To touch

To wonder

To realize

To watch

To look

To seem

To feel (or feel like)

Can

To decide

To sound (or sound like)

To know

I’m being honest when I say my manuscript is filled with these words, and the majority of them need to be edited out.

What do Filter Words Look Like?

Let’s imagine a character in your novel is walking down a street during peak hour.

You might, for example, write:

Sarah felt a sinking feeling as she realized she’d forgotten her purse back at the cafe across the street. She saw cars filing past, their bumpers end-to-end. She heard the impatient honk of horns and wondered how she could quickly cross the busy road before someone took off with her bag. But the traffic seemed impenetrable, and she decided to run to the intersection at the end of the block.

Eliminating the bolded words removes the filters that distances us, the readers, from this character’s experience:

Sarah’s stomach sank. Her purse—she’d forgotten it back at the cafe across the street. Cars filed past, their bumpers end-to-end. Horns honked impatiently. Could she make it across the road before someone took off with her bag? She ran past the impenetrable stream of traffic, toward the intersection at the end of the block.

Are Filter Words Ever Acceptable?

Of course, there are usually exceptions to every rule.

Just because filter words tend to be weak doesn’t mean they never have a place in our writing. Sometimes they are helpful and even necessary.

Susan Dennard of Let The Words Flow writes that we should use filter words when they are critical to the meaning of the sentence.

If there’s no better way to phrase something than to use a filter word, then it’s probably okay to do so.

Want to know more?

Read these other helpful articles on filter words and more great writing tips:

Filter Words and Distancing Point of View

The Reasons Editors reject Manuscripts