Why Talk About Commas? I have two good reasons: First, I recently had a group critique the first chapter of my novel, and some of them gave advice on comma usage. The only problem was some gave wrong advice. Second, my daughter has been asking me to write about commas because she gets confused about […]
Lay Versus Lie: How to Keep Them Straight
“Writing in English is like throwing mud at a wall.” –Joseph Conrad Frustrated? Join the Club English is a beautiful, rich language, full of possibilities. Sometimes it’s frustrating. Have you ever felt as if you wanted to stand on top of a tower and scream? For some people, knowing when to use lay or lie […]
Ending a Sentence with a Preposition: Yea or Nay?
Never End a Sentence with a Preposition: Everyone knows you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition. All or most of your English teachers told you. Right? So, is it true? No, but most people seem to think it’s true. This rule does apply to Latin, which is where many hard and fast English “rules” […]
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2015
I’m Off and Running For those who don’t know, November is National Novel Writing Month. Writers from around the world participate. The goal is to write 50,000 in one month. That’s 1,667 words per day, and a first draft by the end of the month. I participated last year and wrote my Steampunk novel–I’m still […]
Writing Tip: “A Lot” Is Two Words!
One of my Biggest Pet Peeves: You guessed it: writing “a lot” as one word. I know. I know. “A lot” is written as one word all over the place, including the Internet. But that doesn’t mean it’s one word. It means people don’t know better. Since you are reading a blog post about writing […]
Writing a Novel in a Month: Sounds Crazy
Are You Thinking About Doing Nation Novel Writing Month Next Year? NaNoWriMo! You’ve heard the buzz. You might know people who have done it. Writing 50,000 words in a month might scare the words right out of you. Or you might be toying with the idea of doing it next year. If you are toying, […]