strengthen writing skills

Worked half-way through English Grammar for Dummies. Also bought Copyediting for Dummies to work through after that.

Thanks to jhcatwomyn, I have checked out some online proofreading courses and certification programs. I plan to sign up for the course I chose in two weeks (won’t have the money until then), take the course then become certified. I give myself a month from today to complete it. This whole getting laid-off thing is a real motivator! I don’t, however, recommend it.

I signed up with one of the writing assessment courses advertised on this site to brush up on the mechanics I have either become rusty on or never really understood in the first place. I don’t see this step solving my lack of passion problem, but do see it as helpful and necessary. As it turns out, I need more work than I thought in a few areas.

I now write for my job, which is great after waiting tables for years, but I don’t push myself in my personal writing. My journals are bland laundry lists of me carrying on about how much weight I want to lose and why I’m annoyed with the same people I’m always annoyed with. If I don’t work to convey anything in my own writing or if I don’t finish a thought or work to get a difficult point across or delve into anything challenging it doesn’t matter to me. It’s lazy writing. I don’t feel much passion for it anymore.