Chris Writing Anything

All my life, I fancied myself as a writer. I have to admit, considering my mechanics, most of the time, as I toiled away at short stories, well, my technical skills were surely lacking. And even as I began blogging, I was unclear as to many grammatical rules.

Then I did something, wholly unintentionally.

Well, I guess it wasn’t totally inadvertent, but, when sitting at my PC, trying to conjure the perfect word, I’d come up totally empty. So, I started to think of ways to alleviate that mental block. And my answer, unbeknownst to me, made me an exponentially better writer.

I decided that, since they provided clues to the perfect answer, which could only be one word, I’d try my hand at crossword puzzles. I figured it would help with my word retrieval skills.

Little did I know, that got the ball rolling. I found a New York Times crossword puzzle app. And every day, starting myself off slowly, I’d solve the app’s mini puzzle. I’ve progressed to the full length puzzles.

Now, had that’ve been the end to the journey, well, I still wouldn’t have been any better off. I was given a shove when, and it was a pretty hard shove, I was urged to download another New York Times puzzle app.

This one was free, and many of the answers were gimmes. I didn’t know if they were doing any good. They were, and it was because the app was free.

Huh? I can almost here you question my logic. I’ll explain. You see, since these puzzles came at no cost, there were tons of advertisements. Some of those included brain game apps. I purchased one.

Believe it or not, this app, which I visit daily, has close to twenty language exercises. Reading, speaking and writing are three of the five categories. With every error you make, there is a clear explanation why it’s an error. So, it’s like having an electronic grammar tutor.

From there, as I grasped many grammar rules , my writing education grew. I began to realize, with this modern digital age, cheaper forms of education were at my fingertips. I didn’t have to take a four hundred dollar college course, with an instructor who might not care for me, and fit the class into my forty hour work week schedule. I could learn at my own pace, on my own terms and for my own needs.

I often visit a ROKU app; it’s known as Wonderium. There, college instructors can go beyond grammar, and they can teach you valuable writing techniques. I confess, I study the mechanics of writing often, yet I haven’t come close to mastering it. But I’m closer than I was.

So, as far as making a decision, and how I changed and grew, it came from trying my hand at crossword puzzles. Oh, and before that, I had also prayed that God would make me a better writer. So, the thought that led me to crosswords, well, that might’ve been his. Anyways, I know this. I had prayed that if he made me a better writer, I’d include him in my writings. So, I gotta give him credit.

Anyways, not only do brain games make me a better writer, I function better as a whole. I’m just glad I began playing crossword puzzles.

Have an excellent day!