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I've added a new entry to my book,
"Journal entry 2"  |
| I just need to get this out there. I have a hard time reading italics and the italic fonts. Maybe it is just my eyesight. Maybe it is the fact that I am currently using a tablet because my laptop decided to retire itself. It makes them twice as hard to read when they are done in colors. I'm just stating my own dilemma. As a result of my difficulty, I am immediately turned off by anything written in it, especially long passages. I just can't read them easily and refuse to strain my eyes. It is almost like trying to read a foreign language. I'm sorry, I am not pressing 1 for English..... Okay, venting over. |
| Just overhauled my portfolio to get ready for 2026. My writing needs to return to being the center of my life. |
| Okay. This would seem daunting to anyone but I'm wondering if I put something together in like a forum and a group if anyone would be willing to at least try..... In the Jan/Feb issue of Writer's Digest, Michael La Ronn has an article about "The 3/1/52 Challenge", also known as "The Bradbury Challenge" as Ray Bradbury came up with the original concept. The basics are this: read 3 short works every night (a poem, an essay and a short story) AND write 1 short story every week for 52 weeks. Honestly I don't know if I will even be able to keep up. I just want to know if anyone has heard of this or even at least tried it before. I also want to know if I go through all the work of creating a group and forum for it that there will be some interest. Please excuse the long post. I didn't know how else to bring this concept to you all. Blessed Be. |
Dinnae fash o'er the length of the post. My Newsfeed posts are oft longer than some of my short stories.  I think it sounds like a fascinating idea, but like you, I'm not sure I could keep up. I'd be willing to gie it a go, but maybe after the end of February. |
A daunting undertaking, for sure! But we had 10 writers successfully complete the short story part of that challenge over at "The Bradbury" this year! And we'll be back for another challenge in just a few short days if you want to give it a try!  |
| I've added a new entry to my book, "Invalid Item" : "Invalid Entry" |
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Happy Birthday, Mousey! 
Italics is not only a useful useful way to add emphasis, but is also part of the long-established "proper" styling for titles. Many style books specify that titles of books, movies, and other items should be in underscored italics. I'm sure the underline makes italics even harder to read for some folk. I would hate to abandon it altogether, but I try, as we all should, to be as accommodating for others as we can. I'll try to minimize my use of italics as much as possible, but I'll probably continue to style titles as I was taught for years.
There are other things we can all do to make things easier for everyone to read.
Avoid low-contrast colour combinations like red on orange, red on blue (and the reverse), and others similar. The most common type of colour blindness is the inability to distinguish between reds and blues. Using 'iffy' colour combinations with italics and certain type faces usually make them difficult or impossible to read.
Be aware that what looks great on a computer screen is oft a nightmare to read on paper.
Sans-serif fonts (basically, block letters) are usually easier to read than elaborate faces or scripts.
Lastly, for the sake of all the principles of communication, people, please use a combination of upper/lower case letters, and punctuate! Also, separate items in a list with commas! A list of interests like (and this is not a specific list), "cooking flowers
reading gardening books..." is hard to follow. I consider myself to be of nearly average intelligence, but should I read that as "Cooking flowers, reading gardening books,..." OR "Cooking, flowers, reading, gardening, books,..." OR ...
If you think I complain too much, please signify by removing the noose from my neck and telling me to "hit the road." IMHO ostracism is better than martyrdom --- at least in most cases.
I guess we all need to tweak a bit to make things easier for all.