The Writer's Pulse

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Image: calm a llama down"][/caption] Tone is the attitude you express toward your subject matter. It's not only about what you say, but how you say it. It often occurs naturally, without much...

Tips are opinions. No matter how many blogs or magazines you read, the advice you get is never guaranteed to work for you, because we're all different. None of that stops people like me from posting opinions and tips, occasionally laced with fact, but...

I'm trying to get through The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien's creation myth of Middle Earth and the history of the elves. It's not a long book, really, but it's very dry. In my opinion, of course. It's the first book on my Spring/Summer reading list,...

Ad hominem is one of the most frequently used forms of propaganda. In Latin, it means "to the man," and occurs when a person overlooks the substance of an argument and instead attacks its source. Here's an example: "I think it's best to decrease the...

Here's an anecdote: "Hey," said Jimmy, "I don't want to go to school today. Everyone's skipping class!" "And if everyone jumped off a bridge, you'd jump too, right?" said his mother, "Right?!" The bandwagon appeal is put to use when you want your...