Affect vs. Effect: Affected by the effects of your actions.

I see it all the time: affect and effect mixed up as if they were completely interchangeable. But they’re not. They don’t even belong to the same parts of speech! If you’ve ever been typing along and come to one of these words, and scrunched up your eyebrows wondering whether to spell it with an a or an e, then this grammar lesson is for you!

To Affect

Affect is a verb. It is something that happens. You are affected or you affect. This word is never preceded by an article such as an or the because it’s not a thing, it’s an action. When writing, or speaking for that matter, and unsure of the spelling, ask yourself if the word is being used as an action. If it is, then go with affect.

a = action
a = affect

An Effect

Effect is a noun, and that is a thing. It’s not something you do, it’s something you have, or give, or something that just is. We hear this word most commonly in reference to fancy film making — you know — special effects. “The special effects in that movie were groundbreaking!” Note the use of the article, the, as in the effect. See that? Easy!

the = article
effect = noun

Also note that if used with an adjective or noun phrase, it’s effect (with an e):

• After effect
• Special effect
• Greenhouse effect
• Sound effect
• Effects of alcohol
• In effect…
• Adverse effects
• Positive/negative effects
• Cause and effect
• Side effects

That’s all for today! Do you have any word mix ups that you need clarified? Or are there any nasty homophones out there that you just can’t seem to remember? Leave a comment and I’ll try to come up with a clever mnemonic device! If you’re too shy to leave a comment, go ahead and use the contact form!

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How to Get Your Mind on Rhyme

Rhyming poetry goes in and out of vogue all the time, except when it comes to children’s poetry, which must always and absolutely be packed with fun and clever rhymes. Some poets take to rhyming like it’s nothing, and sound-a-like words roll off their tongues like butter. But others struggle, dancing through the alphabet and flipping through rhyming dictionaries just to find a rhyme as simple as bat and cat.

Here’s a little exercise designed to help you get your rhyme on — an especially fun exercise because we get to play with music. I like to call it Catch the Rhyme.

All you need is a song. A good song, rhythmic and rhyme-y, but not with a lot of fancy runs. Go for an old Beatles song, or just about anything from the eighties. Disco could work, if you’re into that kind of thing, but forget about classical music because most of it doesn’t have words, and what we’re doing requires words. We’re writers, right?

You might want to start with a short, simple three-chord pop song. If you can do that, graduate yourself to longer and more complex tunes.

If you know all the lyrics to your song, that will be immensely helpful. If not, Google the song title with the word “lyrics” and you’ll find it in three seconds flat. Take those lyrics, and rewrite them, trying to match as many rhymes in the song as possible, and not just the end rhymes. Your rhymes can be as strict or as loose as you want.

If you do just a few of these, pretty soon rhyming will start to feel more natural, and your rhymes will flow with ease.

Here’s my attempt with the first chorus from 80s one hit wonder 99 Red Balloons by Nena.

The Original Verse
You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we’ve got
Set them free at the break of dawn
Till one by one they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message: something’s out there
Floating in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by

My Attempt to Catch the Rhyme
Shoes untied at a little bus stop
Sigh and whistle a tune ’cause it’s all that you’ve got
Set your feet on the fake green lawn
Tie your shoes and then you yawn
Flash the mace, thugs on the make here
Cash is precious: buy a cold beer
Waiting till the bus comes by
Mighty fine greasy spoon — let’s dine!

Pretty bad, I know, but it’s the best I could do in just a few minutes. Try it for yourself and post a verse or a chorus in the comments! And have a great weekend! Don’t forget to write!

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Reader’s Delight

I love to read. I inhale books, absorb them, and revel in them completely. When I’m deeply engrossed in a good book, hours slip away like seconds, and suddenly the sun is coming up and I realize that I still have two chapters to go. Forget sleep.

The other night I finished a whirlwind read of every single book in Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, which happens to my favorite sci-fi series. It was the second time I read the Pern collection, and there were several new additions to fawn over since I read it ten years ago. When I finished the final installment, which was just published last month, I became pretty blue. My head was in Pern for the course of over twenty books, which I’ve been reading since early December, so I found myself feeling a bit out of sorts. Call me crazy.

I have plenty of other favorites, and I’m not limited to just one genre. I’ll read almost anything — fiction or nonfiction, sci-f, fantasy, mystery, comedy, drama, romance, adventure, poetry… You name it, I’ll read it, if I haven’t already. Actually, there are so many books out there, I usually feel like I’ve barely skimmed the surface. But I have my favorites:

Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield is the most vivid character to ever grace the pages of a fiction work. I read this classic for the second time a few years ago, and for a couple of days after I finished it, I kept expecting Holden to come walking around the corner at any minute. That is great literature, and perfect characterization. J.D. Salinger is a master. I also enjoyed Franny and Zooey.

Jazz

Toni Morrison is better known for her controversial novel, Beloved, but I found more delight in Jazz: “Jazz embraces the vibrant music and lifestyle of 1920s Harlem, an urban renaissance of opportunity and glamour. A novel of murder, hard lives, and broken dreams, Jazz sways with a lyric medley of voices and human consciousness.” - Amazon.com

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Childhood Favorites

I wouldn’t be a reader, let alone a writer if it weren’t for all those books I gobbled up as a child. I used to stay up way past my bedtime, lying on the floor, my head poking just outside my bedroom door trying to catch some light from the hallway. I used to tell my parents I was scared of the dark and needed the hall light on, but I really just needed some light to read by.

Staying home sick from school wasn’t so bad, because I could read the Little House series for the gazillionth time. I was a huge fan of Zilpha Keatley Snyder (who I met last year) and I read every single Judy Blume book that I could get my hands on. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle cannot escape mention as one of the books I adored as a child. But, I think Charlotte’s Web has to be my favorite of all those. I read it over and over, and watched the movie just as much as I read the book. A classic!

What About You?

Okay, now you know all my reading secrets, so you’ve got to tell me yours! What are your favorite books and why do you love them so much? Do you have a single favorite that stands out above the rest? Are you a sci-fi geek like your Writing Forward hostess, or do you lean toward trashy romance novels, cutting edge technological thrillers, or wild and crazy adventure stories? Got any recommendations? Leave a comment folks!

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