Happy Friendship-Day!

Even writers need friends besides their imaginary one...

So may real life gift you with as many friends

as your books and stories!

#Happyfriendshipday

How to become a writer's best friend....

Being friend to a writer can be really challenging.

Not because they are mean people but because in general - well they live in a different world than you!

So sometimes its hard to reach them (Cellphones don't really work on other planes or in other worlds and times!). But once you get through writers are really nice and worth trying to be friends - after all not too many of your friends can take you through magic gateways and introduce you to imaginary friends, right?

So here are a few rules to keep in mind when trying to get a writer accustomed to you:

1. Sometimes your writer friend will space out, or stare off into space while you’re talking. You cannot take offense to this, they are not ignoring you or bored by your story (okay, in fairness they might be bored by your story I don’t know for sure) but more likely they are daydreaming a new story they want to write, or a scene they want to create, or even a blog post they are dying to write.
2. If you’re going to tell your writer friend a story you must proceed the story by saying “You can/cannot use this...”if you don’t specify, then we will assume that it’s up for grabs and you may see your story in a future blog post, or story that we create. When we write it, we might not even remember that we got the idea from you, so you really need to tell us whether it’s on or off limits. The responsibility is all on you, are we clear here?
3. Accept that writer friend may want to write about you all the time. Or never at all. Or a combination of both, at completely random and unexpected times. Writers can’t predict it, why should you be able to?
4. You should understand that while writers may seem to be listening to you intently, really they are mentally recording this entire conversation in  their memory so that they can use it later for their own creative purposes.
5. Understand that while writers appreciate your helpful ideas, they might not be able to use them all in their writing. It doesn’t mean they aren’t great ideas (Okay, again it might mean they’re not great I don’t know...) but it just means they can’t make it work for what’s sparking their creativity at the moment. Don’t take offense, it’s not you, it’s their muse!
6. If writers tell you that they are unable to do something because they are writing it doesn’t mean that they don’t want to do what you’re asking them to do, it just means that they really are -  writing! Writing isn’t like a job where you clock in and clock out. Sometimes if they put it aside, when they come back the spark, the idea, the inspiration is gone like a puff of steam on a cool night. If the story is coming now, then now is when writers have to write it! 

More soon - you're not off the hook yet!

Gimme those ellipses!!! 😅

 True Romeo, but...

I am too good at making my own!

Where have all the dots-dots-dots gone? 🤔

Oh see - more 🔴🔴🔴!

7) Ellipsis points are used to indicate faltering speech, especially if the faltering involves a long pause or a sentence that trails off or is intentionally left unfinished. Generally, no other terminal punctuation is used.

The speaker seemed uncertain. "Well, that's true ... but even so ... I think we can do better."
"Despite these uncertainties, we believe we can do it, but ...."
"I mean ..." he said, "like ... How?"

8) Ellipsis points are sometimes used informally as a stylistic device to catch a reader's attention, often replacing a dash or colon.

They think that nothing can go wrong ... but it does.

9) In newspaper and magazine columns consisting of social notes, local events listings, or short items of celebrity news, ellipsis points often take the place of paragraphing to separate the items.

Congratulations to Debra Morricone, our up-and-coming singing star, for her full scholarship to the Juilliard School this fall! ... And kudos to Paul Chartier for his winning All-State trumpet performance last Friday in Baltimore! ... Look for wit and sparkling melody when the Lions mount their annual Gilbert & Sullivan show at Syms Auditorium. This year it's ...

Ellipsis points are similarly used in informal personal correspondence in place of periods or paragraphing.

We'll be away for the weekend and then back to work Monday ... You're welcome to come for the graduation party at the end of the month.

And there you have it. Now, go forth and with a new command of ellipsis points and a new sense of confidence when you need to collect your thoughts on the page ... may the 🔴🔴🔴 be with you!

(Original at Merriam Webster's Dictionary)

And it goes on-on-on ...