Tips for Dyslexic Writers

Hello friends!


Dyslexia is a huge pain in the rear-end, especially when you're a writer. I should know, seeing as I am a dyslexic writer. From this far into the post, I've already respelled "dyslexia" once and "especially" at least three times.

Indeed, dyslexia is a treacherous thing!

I have overcome it for the most part. I still struggle with it from time to time, but that does little to stop me from writing.
And sense I have the experience, I thought I would compose a list of tips for writers like me. So I did! Here it is:

1. Use a computer

I figured you probably already do this, but typing as opposed to writing by hand was revolutionary for me. It's like my hands remembered where each letter was on the keyboard, and memorized the pattern of each individual word as apposed to making scribbles on paper (not that scribbles on paper are bad, as I've said before, I love them).
Even now, I'm much better at typing then I am at writing by hand.



2. Change your document's color to yellow

I have not personally tried this, but it has been recommended many times. Changing your paper or your document to yellow supposedly helps with focusing, specifically when reading.
Again, I have not tried this, so I can neither confirm or deny it.

3. Change your font

You may find that different fonts are easier to read. Below are three fonts I have used, the last two are the ones I prefer.

Find the right font, time yourself to see how easy one is to read compared to another if you want. This makes proof reading and editing so much easier.And don't forget, if you don't want your completed document to be written with the font that is easiest for you to read, you can always change it to a different font later.

4. Don't just use spell check; rewrite the words you've miss spelled

It's super easy to let spell check handle everything. Write, see the red line, and select the proper spelling. But this won't help you memorize how to actually spell the word.
So instead, look at the proper spelling and rewrite the word yourself. Even if you already know the spelling, and just got mixed up. It's a good exercise and will build your word generating powers.


5. Practice your hand writing

Keep a journal. Write poetry, short stories, and writing exercises down by hand. Make sure to use the neatest hand writing you can, paying close attention to what you are doing. Messy handwriting is one of the factors of dyslexia, and practicing it as neatly as possible as often as possible will train your hand and mind.
Just make sure that you aren't straining yourself.

6. Find your weaknesses and spell them out (out loud)

This one is similar to number 4. Write for a while without editing anything (keeping a journal would help with this), then look back at your spelling. Pick out words that you've repeatedly miss spelled, and keep them in a list.
Find the proper spelling, and repeat it out loud instead of writing it.

Some of my most common miss spelled words are 'especially', 'lightning', 'nauseous', and 'similar'.

7. Read, read, read!

Focus on the spelling and order of words. You probably won't be getting much out of the story, so reading something you've already read would be best.
This should help with memorizing and understanding grammar, even if you already know it. Then when you're writing a phrase similar to the ones you've read, your brain can recall the proper order and spelling.

8. Keep your eyes down

This has transformed writing for me. Don't look at the screen, look at your keyboard. Look at you hands, and just type. I know it's really tempting to look back up at the screen, but resist the urge!
Looking down has helped me get so many more words out in much less time, because I'm not focusing on the spelling or what I've already written.

I especially do this during NaNoWriMo, when I need to get words out faster. Now that I think about it, maybe I should try writing blind folded sometime...

9.  Don't sweat it

As cliche as this final tip is, it's true. I'm not saying don't fix your spelling when you can, but sometimes you just can't. Sometimes you spell a word so wrong that even spellcheck can't help you, and you really don't want to take the time to find the proper spelling.

So don't. Just keep going, maybe make a note describing the word so you'll understand later (I've had many typos that I couldn't understand when I came back to them), and come back when you've finished the chapter, or maybe even the whole story.


I hate to leave this list on a odd number like this, but that's all of my tips.
Of course, none of these are fool proof and might not work for you. These are just my ideas and methods.
Are you dyslexic? Have you tried any of these tips before? If you have, which ones helped you the most?

Please feel free to respond to these questions, and maybe ask some of your own. I'd love to hear your thoughts!


Yours truly, 


                                       Edna

~~~~~Welcome, Spring!~~~~~
By Edna Pellen

At last, Spring has come!

She comes out, sprinkling the earth with rain to melt the snow

And blows her sweet breath to send away the cold

She wakes the animals and leads the birds back home

She pats the wet earth, telling the flowers to grow

She whispers with a grin to the trees

Telling them it's time to awaken from their winter sleep

She tells the sun where to shine, so that it may melt the ice

She teaches the birds a new song to sing

And she colors in the sky while waving to Winter as he passes by

With the new season a promise is fulfilled

Life has begun again, reborn after Winter's chill

Colors will bloom, gardens will be woven

And the way prepared for Summer with her sun so golden

Adding to Phrases

Dear reader,

When writing, I, like most writers, like to avoid reusing the same words and phrases over and over again. So what do I do? I sit there for ten minutes trying to think of a better way to say whatever it is, and then I lose the flow of writing.
That in mind, I have prepared a list below of commonly used phrases and examples of how to change them.
By adding more description to a action, you can keep things interesting and save yourself from being redundant.

Read on!

Facial actions:

"She furrowed her brow" = "Her eyebrows narrowed as she looked down, her face
                                                     tense as she thought the plan through."

"His eyes widened" = "He took a step back, lips parting as he stared at his friend in
                                           wonder."

"She raised her eyebrows" = "She tilted her head down, raising her eyebrows as she
                                                       looked at him."

"He smirks" = "He gives me a cocky smirk."

"She bites her lip" = "Holding her arm, she turned her face away."

"Tears cut down his cheeks" = "The tears slipped out of his eyes and down his cheeks
                                                          before he could brush them away."

Physical actions:

"He clenches his hands into fists" = "The anger flowed through him, screaming to be
                                                                 let out. The only way he could tame it was to
                                                                 keep his hands in tight fists  at his side."

"She crosses her arms" = "She looks at me indignantly, crossing her arms."

"He pinches the bridge of his nose" = "Resting his finger tips on his brow, he shut his                                                                                         eyes and let out a irritated sigh."

"He runs fingers his through his hair" = "He groans, putting his hands to his
                                                                      face before lowering  his head and letting
                                                                      them slip through his hair."

"She nods" = "She sighed quietly, consenting."

"With a pounding heart..." = "He had never been this aware of his heartbeat before."

"Chills ran up his spin" = "The room seemed to have become much colder now, it
                                                chilled James arms, neck, legs... His hands, resting
                                                on his lap in fists, were sweating, and his icy
                                                breath kept catching."

"She wags a finger at me" = "She points at me, giving me a stony look."

"He lifted his shoulder" = "Shrugging one shoulder, he gave an awkward smile."

Verbal actions:

"She cried out" = "'Wait!' Her cry echoed through the hall as she held her hand out,
                                     as if that would stop anything."

"He exclaimed" = "'You can't do that!' He exclaimed. 'But I have to!' He looked at me,
                                      fear and desperation flooding his face."

"The child wailed" = "The poor baby cried loud and hard as his mother bounced him
                                       on her lap, softly shushing him."

"He chuckled" = "His deep laughter filled the room."

"She stuttered" = "Yes! I... I mean no, or..." Her words tripped over each other as her face reddened."

So there you have it!
Of course, I'm not saying to use my exact wording in the above. They're merely examples of how you can change things up a bit. I've noticed writers often keeping the same phrase, and only changing one word in it.
An example of that would be...

"She (stuttered) stammered", "He (nodded) wagged his head", "She (crosses) folds her arms".

While this works, it seems less creative to me. Besides that, adding more description adds to your word count!

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, I'd love it if you'd tell me what parts you liked. If you didn't, tell me what you didn't like.
Fair well, friends!

Yours,


             
                     Edna

~~~~~~~Artist of the Sky~~~~~~~

By Edna Pellen

Oh Artist of the sky, won’t You teach me Your ways? How to hold the brush, choose the hue And paint the strokes with such grace? Oh Crafter of the trees, won’t You tell me The secrets that You keep to create such wonderful things? Oh Melodist of the birds’ songs, won’t You show me How You get every note to tie together all the day long? Oh Author of the world, reveal to me, if you can, How You wrote each word, how You formed Your story’s plan Oh Sculptor of man, show me if you will, How to carve such marvelous things with such strong patience And such great skill Oh Inventor of time, please teach me these great talents of thine

The Liebster Blog Award

Dear readers,

Today's post is that of a different sort! I have been nominated and awarded for the Liebster Award by my good friend Ariel from Scribes & Archers. She has a wonderful writing blog, and I highly recommend you reading some of her posts.

Before I begin, allow me to explain what the Liebster Award is:

This award is passed around by bloggers to bloggers. It was designed to help other blogs grow and gain more attention, and that is what it is continuing to do eight years later.

(Liebester is German for 'dearest', by the way.)


The Rules:

The rules are simple...

1. You are to link back to the person who nominated you

2. Display the award (seen at the top of this page)

3. Answer the eleven questions that the person who nominated you provided

4. Give eleven random facts about yourself

5. Nominate eleven other bloggers (normally a blog with less then two hundred followers, though I may bend that rule)

6. Ask eleven questions of your choice for your nominees to answer


Sounds fun, right? Let's get started!


11 Questions from Ariel:

1. What's your favorite color to wear?

I love wearing pastels, but bright orange and forest green are probably my favorites



2. If you were a color, what color would you be and why?

I like to think orange, because it can be calm and gentle, or ecstatic and fun, or completely wild! But it is always joyful and happy. And though I am not happy all the time, I do try very hard to be.


3. What's your favorite thing about your current project? (Writing project, music project, school project, etc.)
For the sake of keeping this blog's theme, I'll go with my current writing project.
My favorite thing about this novel I'm writing is the devotion and determination that can be found in it, and in multiple forms.
I think that is shows love, emotion, intense dedication, and... well, I'll stop there. I don't want to give anything away.


4. What's the story behind your blog name?
This is actually something I was planning to write a post about.
The name 'Bleeding Ink' comes from a poem I once wrote (that, and a vote from my friends).
In short, it is to describe the intense passion that I feel for writing. The idea is that my love and zeal for words and writing is so deep, that if you were to look inside me you'd see that my very heart bleeds ink.



5.  If you dye your hair, what color would you dye it?
I like my hair the way it is, but if I had to say, I would like to turn the tips orange or pink. But if I had to do all of my hair, I'd choose either a dark purple or blue.
...Or maybe I could dye it the color it already is.


6. What book are you most excited to read this year and why?

Most likely, it would be Dragons' Hope by Melody Jackson. And this is because I love the other books in this series, the characters are wonderful and deeply developed and the story is intense and gripping.

You can find this series (which I highly recommend) here.



7. What's your favorite thing about your blog?

The tone, by far. Every time I finish a post and see it completed and standing against the purple background, I get a thrill. I think that my style of writing matches the rest of this blog perfectly, and I'll admit that I'm very proud of that.
But in addition to that, I love having a place to put my strange scribbles that I call 'writing'. I love having somewhere that is dedicated to words and creativity, and that I can (in hope) loop around and use to represent the Good that God is.


8. What's your favorite book of the Bible and why?

Well, that's a hard one. Off the top of my head, James. I say this because I find it to be very hopeful, but honest. And, instructional but loving. It doesn't sugar coat anything, but instead provides all of the truth, which includes good and bad things.

Oh but then there are the Psalms! Oh how I love that book! It shows us how human we are, and how amazing and astounding God is, how loving He is, how forgiving, how mighty, how fierce... and how undeserving we are to be loved by Him. And yet, He does love us.


9. What's your favorite Bible verse and why?

Now that just isn't fair, I have way too many to only give one!
So instead, I will give two.

"The Lord upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down." - Psalm 145:14
I love this one because of how is shows God. Through this verse, we can see one of the many, many, ways He loves us.

My second verse is this;

"Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me." - Micah 7:8

Now, this one I love for a similar reason.  Again, it shows how feeble man is. But with God, we have strength. He is all the defense we need, He is all the light we need, and vengeance is His. The enemy would be a fool to rejoice over one whose defense is the Lord. Because with Him, we will rise, and with Him, we have light, and with Him, we needn't worry about the enemy.


10. What's your favorite thing to write? (Fiction or non-fiction)
Fiction, by far! When writing a work of non-fiction, you put such limits on yourself. But in fiction, anything can happen! You don't have to follow the silly lines of logic, you have imagination! Things can fall up, night can be day, you can swim in the air, and instead of setting, the sun can just explode every evening and rebuild every morning.



11. Skittles or M&Ms?
This is a question that I am not ready to answer... My entire destiny may change based on the answer that I give...
For tradition's sake, I will say M&Ms.



11 Random Facts about Me:


1. Though I am fond of chocolate, I typically prefer sour candy to sweet candy.

2. I am a artist.

3. My favorite color is orange (if you couldn't tell from the first, second, and fifth answers).

4. The first novel I ever read (by myself) was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and it remains one of my favorites to this day.

5. I believe in a few different types of magic, the main one being the magic of words (as said in a previous post).

6. I once wrote a poem called 'A Never Ending Walk'. It was the first real poem of mine, and was the spark that caused my blazing love for poetry.

7. I proudly hail from a homeschooled family of ten (including myself).

8. I love music and am a musician

9. I believe that peanut butter and chocolate are among the world's greatest combinations.

10. I have broken both of my arms, at two different times.

11. I had a incredibly hard time thinking of all these facts. You never realize how boring you are until you're asked to talk about yourself.


11 5 Nominations

I have read at least one post from all of the following nominations, and recommend that you do the same. Each one of them has something incredible to offer, so go pay them a visit.


1. Julia from Julias Creative Corner

2. Mary from Wild Writing Dreams

3. Audrey from Weaving Words on the Wings of Hope

4. Jane Maree from https://janemareeauthor.com.au/

5. Julia from Willow Creek Pines


11 Questions for the nominees


1. If you could live in any fictional world, which would you choose?

2. What book (fictional or not) has inspired you most?

3. What is the most beautiful thing you've seen?

4. What are three of your favorite words and why?

5. What are three of your biggest pet-peeves?

6. What is your favorite kind of cookie?

7. Which would you rather be, a mermaid or a fairy?

8. What is the best adventure you've had?

9. If you could control any one element, which one would you choose?

10. Do you prefer (for writing or reading) fantasy or science fiction?

11. With only one sentence, how would you describe how you feel towards writing?


I hope you nominees will enjoy this as much as I did, and hopefully find more blogs to link to then I did (it's a lot harder then I would've thought).


And this is where I end the post.
I enjoyed this very much, and again would like to thank Ariel for the tag.
For you readers, I would like to invite you to take this tag for yourself! Reuse the questions I answered if you like, then find other blogs and ask them questions. It's fun, and it helps everyone out.

Yours,


                  Edna