I am disturbed by an increasing tendency to misuse I when it is joined to another person with and. My personal theory is that repeated childhood corrections of me…
Category: Writing
I first wrote this article almost a year ago, but the content is as valuable now as it was then. We’re used to thinking about…
One piece of a story that is often neglected by newer writers is the character arc. Part of the reason this is easily overlooked is…
This time of year is when we do routine maintenance on the house. As I worked on the outside walls, scraping flaking paint and digging…
[epq-quote align=”align-right”]Use then if the situation relates to time, order, or consequences. Use than in comparative situations, regardless of the type of comparison.[/epq-quote] It is…
Writer Worries: There, They’re, or Their? The challenge with there, they’re, and their is that the words are homonyms (also called homophones), which means they sound the same but…
Writers hear over and over to avoid passives and use active verbs only. But if you don’t come from an intensive English background, you can…
This article is the first follow-up to my earlier article, Practice Makes Perfect, Right? My goal, as this series continues, is to provide more concrete…
Everyone who speaks much English knows the expression practice makes perfect. However, I find the expression “perfect practice makes perfect,” generally attributed to Vince Lombardi,…
After struggling some with a flash exercise, I did a lot of thinking, reading, and analyzing about what was necessary to write good flash fiction. The…