Repeated trauma causes permanent changes in brain processing centers. — [Disclaimer: The author is not a mental health professional. Article contents are for information purposes only and are not meant to diagnose or treat. See your doctor if you think you need help.] A friend recently told a story about being worried about her taxi driver and the effort she…

Try these homemade tea combos to help with common ailments. — When we hear the word “tea”, most of us probably think of the rather bitter plain black tea in the bags with the yellow box. But there’s a whole world of teas out there that are far from that sad offering. From exotic oolongs to hearty rooibos, the world of…

The Writing Challenge winners merely reflect our national obsession with trauma porn. — Whether it’s someone slipping on a banana peel or a true crime tale of kidnapping and murder, Americans are enthralled with the anguish and disappointments of others. The Germans have a word that means taking joy from your enemy’s misfortune: schadenfreude. But the word is meant to represent the pain…

Which do you think is better? — Of all the superheroes out there, Batman is definitely my favorite. He’s weird, he’s dark, he’s seriously screwed up — just like me. But there’s a sticking point over whether he should be referred to as ‘Batman’ or as ‘The Batman’. …

The Most Common Grammatical Errors — Em dashes are a source of frustration for many people. Part of the problem lies in trying to differentiate between em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens. This article will give you a quick outline of the differences as well as some rules of thumb for remembering when em dashes should…

Why some of your favorite writers are shifting gears. — Tim Denning is doing it. So are Shaunta Grimes, Ayodeji Awosika, Nathaniel O Calloway, and others. Amardeep Parmar recently posted a story that was really a short book — an amazing twenty-six-minute read. Writers who have built their careers writing relatively short articles (three to five minutes read time) are…

So, will you be my friends? — It’s my own fault really. Everyone said, “Build your platform. Sign up for all of these sites. Write, respond, follow back. Numbers are crucial!” So, I did all of those things. On Twitter (sorry, Facebook, but I hate you), on Instagram, on Pinterest, on LinkedIn. Then, Reddit, Quora, and Medium…

How and when to use the three dots. — There are a dozen different ways to use ellipses (singular ellipsis) in your writing. Today, we’re going to look at three major ones. 1: Use an ellipsis to show a pause in dialogue A pause in dialogue is one of the most powerful punctuation choices you can make in a paragraph. …

Misunderstandings and misleadings on the road to eating plants. — I read an ad the other day that listed the ingredients in a product. It mentioned that the product was vegan. The product was soap. Soap? Who eats soap? This is just an example of some common misunderstandings surrounding veganism. What is veganism? Veganism is a diet that excludes meat, dairy, and eggs…