The Zeal and Softness Becoming to the Sex: the Origins of the Agony Aunt

In 1693, the first British women’s magazine, The Ladies’ Mercury, was published.  It ran for only four issues before folding.  Quite why its run was so brief is unclear, particularly given the fact that its male counterpart, The Athenian Mercury, ran for over seven years.  Presumably the concerns of the fairer sex weren’t considered sufficient [...]

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Your Weekly Writing Prompt

One In France it is forbidden to call a pig Napoleon; in England it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow; in San Salvador, drunk drivers can be executed by firing squad; in Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is [...]

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Semicolon Usage

What is the correct way in which to use semicolons? Despite being an arguably nonessential form of punctuation, the semicolon is prone to overuse, appearing scattered over paragraphs like confetti.  In correct usage, it can serve two purposes. The first is between sentences as a pause that is longer than a comma and shorter than [...]

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Seeking Seclusion

I’m finding it difficult to establish any sort of writing routine.  I don’t have a specific room in my house just to sit and write.  I want to be able to just sit somewhere quiet, interrupted only by bird song, for example – not my three teenaged kids and husband who don’t seem to take [...]

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Writing Through The Block

I’ve always wondered how one overcomes writer’s block. Personally speaking, I have no difficulty starting out ~ the blank page does not intimidate me ~ but somewhere between the one-third and halfway mark writer’s block sets in and I have the darndest time writing through it. I tend to just ramble and ramble for pages [...]

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