THGM Writing Services

Infographic – 24 unorthodox signs that you might be a writer

October 26, 2022 By 1 Comment

We writers are peculiar people. Here are 24 unorthodox ways to tell if you, too, might be a writer.

Over the years, I’ve written about hundreds of ways to tell if you are a writer. You can read about them all through the links at the bottom of this article.

I’ve pulled together 24 of the most unorthodox ways of identifying a writer into the infographic below. If these describe you, beware – you might be a writer. If you recognize these signs in anybody around you, please be gentle – it’s not their fault. They were born that way. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Are you an original blog writer?

September 23, 2022 By 1 Comment

Got blogger’s block? Can’t think of anything original to write about? Not to worry! Here are some ideas to help get the creative juices flowing.

Are you an original? I am sure you will say “yes”. No two of us are the same, and these days movies, songs and personal development blog posts drum into our heads the importance of individuality.

But this is not a personal development blog post. This is a blog post about your blog posts and your articles. The question is: “Are you an original…blogger.”

A lot of emphasis has been placed on “original” and “unique” content recently, mostly because people believe (partly correctly) that Google robots will storm your website and emasculate its rankings if they discover that you are publishing “duplicate content”. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blogging and web content

Florida journalism student targets fake news to win MUSE writing scholarship

June 18, 2022 By 1 Comment

The 2022 MUSE Scholarship winner is a future sports journalist who warns us about the allure of fake news. Congratulations Caleb Thomas!

Somebody had to win it. Applications for the THGM MUSE Scholarship closed on May 15. And now, we have a winner to announce.

Caleb Thomas of Port St. Lucie, Florida, is the 2022 MUSE Scholarship winner. For the past year, he has been finishing up his high school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Now, he’s coming home to study multimedia journalism at Troy University.

Caleb plans to pursue a career in sports journalism. This field is not new to him, as has worked in the past for SportsTalkATL in Atlanta.

Choosing a winner was not easy, with different styles of writing and stories that took us from the streets of Paris to the subway of Toronto.

Caleb won the scholarship with a story called simply “Truth”. [Read more…]

Filed Under: The writing business Tagged With: ,

How to write a script for a speech contest or a talent competition

May 29, 2022 By Leave a Comment

Winning a talent competition or a speaking contest begins with good writing. So does any speech where you hope to change attitudes, entertain or lead people to action. Here is how to write the script.

Are you planning to vie for the coveted Miss Universe title? Perhaps not, but there is a lot to be learned from “talent competitions” and speech contests about being an effective speaker. A well-crafted speech can win speaking contests at Toastmasters. It can win a seat on the school board or town council. Or it can win people to your cause.

I will share two example talent competition speeches with you, along with some analysis. You might notice a few (or several) things that I don’t cover. Feel free to add them in the comments.

Then I will share a sample talent competition speech we wrote for a client, as an example of a good speech competition script. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Speeches

How to write a maid of honor speech – with examples

April 19, 2022 By Leave a Comment

The bride has just asked you to be the maid of honor and, oh, by the way, would you like to give a speech? No worries – you got this. Here are four examples of successful maid of honor speeches we have written for real weddings.

The bride did not choose you to be maid of honor for your speaking abilities. She chose you out of love. And love might inspire your speech, but you still need to know what to say and how to say it.

If you are looking for maid of honor speech ideas or examples of maid of honor speeches, read on. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Speeches Tagged With: ,

New scholarship for first year writing students in 2022

March 25, 2022 By Leave a Comment

We are offering a new US$500 scholarship to American and Canadian high school seniors this year. Any first-year post-secondary writing-related program qualifies.

Let your young writer friends know: if they’ve applied for a first year writing-related program, they can now apply for the THGM MUSE Scholarship. The deadline is May 30.

The scholarship awards US$500 (or C$630 if they are studying in Canada) to one high school senior. They must be enrolled in (or have applied for) a writing-related program at the post-secondary level. Examples of eligible programs are: [Read more…]

Filed Under: The writing business Tagged With:

Adapting books to film – how to turn a novel into a movie or TV series

March 12, 2022 By Leave a Comment

There are so many films based on books. You, too, might want to turn a novel into a movie. This complete guide offers 11 screenplay-writing tips to adapt a book into a movie.

So, you’ve written a novel. Now you want to turn your book into a movie or a TV series. What could be easier?

Writing a book manuscript and writing a screenplay are very different projects. And adapting a book into a TV series or a movie takes more than just reformatting the text. Here are 11 steps for how to adapt a book into a screenplay. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Screenplays and film

Plain language writing guide

February 16, 2022 By 4 Comments

If you want more people to read what you’ve written and to understand what you mean, the tips in this plain English writing guide will help.

If you are writing to entertain, there’s nothing like foreshadowing, suspense and colorful language to engage your audience.

If you are writing to inform, you need to be clear. You need to be precise. You need to write in plain English. Or in plain French or German or whatever language. Readability is what matters.

  • The easier your text is to read, the more people will read it.
  • The easier your text is to read, the more of it people will read.
  • The easier your text is to read, the more people will understand your message.
  • The easier your text is to read, the fewer errors people will make.
  • The easier your text is to read, the less people will gloss over your message as they read it.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Writing and editing

Pets in kidlit books teach children important lessons

January 29, 2022 By Leave a Comment

Another client of THGM Writing Services publishes her book. Charlie The Chomp’ion: When winning comes with a consequence by Julia Giancaspro teaches children a lesson on consequences through the eyes of her pet dog.

Let the chihuahua shine! New author Julia Giancaspro has put her pet chihuahua Charlie in print in Charlie The Chomp’ion: When winning comes with a consequence. This delightful book will entertain children ages three to 12, while teaching them about the importance of the choices they make. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Books and publishing Tagged With:

You might be a writer (or writers)

January 17, 2022 By Leave a Comment

What is a writer? We’ve looked for those tell-tale signs, and we’ve found some more. You might be a writer…or perhaps you might be several writers.

Jeff Foxworthy says that you might be a redneck. But I say that you might be a writer. In fact, I’ve said it seven times already: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous
Next Page »