We all know those people—the ones we’re afraid to slip up around, either in writing or in speech: the grammar police. I don’t judge people based on race, creed, colour or gender. I judge people based on spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure.” ~ Unknown Do not fear. Today I share three tips for sliding by these […]
Writing Through Grief
This post is dedicated to all who have lost someone they love. You are not alone. And we are promised everything will be okay in the end. I pray you are helped and given hope in writing through your grief. 💗 No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” ~ C.S. Lewis […]
The Best Short Story Recipe: 5 Steps
In a rough way the short story writer is to the novelist as a cabinetmaker is to a house carpenter.” ~ Annie Proulx In this post, I am going to share an awesome short story recipe with you. Don’t worry, it’s not too difficult—there are only five ingredients. Warning: manufactured in a facility where puns abound; […]
How to Write Powerful Dialogue
We want to write powerful dialogue and avoid stilted conversations. Have you ever run into dialogue that goes something like this? “Hi, Mark,” Cindy said. “Hi, Cindy,” Mark said. “How was your week?” Cindy asked Mark. “It was great, Cindy. How was yours?” Mark asked. “It was kind of rough, Mark. Thanks for asking.” Cindy […]
Houston, a Problem Is Had by Us: Avoiding the Passive Voice
Imagine if that’s the call NASA received: “Houston, a problem is had by us!” A little too wordy and not quite as impactful as, “Houston, we have a problem!” This is just one example of why avoiding the passive voice is so vital. A bigger boat is going to be needed by you.” ~ Chief […]
3 Writing Rules You Didn’t Know You Needed
Writing rules are important. And not just William Safire’s hilarious list of self-contradictory writing rules, but also the grammatical basics—the obvious and the obscure. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.” ~ William Safire, Self-Contradicting Rule #13 Today, we discuss […]
