3 Reasons to Use Free Indirect Speech
Free indirect speech is a powerful tool when writing in third person. It gives you the intimacy of first person but with the flexibility of third person. Learn what it is and why you want to use this tool.
A Guide to Self-Publishing a Book
Self-publishing is not for the faint of heart. Because there are a lot of steps in the process, it can be a steep learning curve. Learn how to do each step well and the supporting help available to aid you in your journey.
Putting Zombie Rules to Rest for Good
If you are confident you can’t end a sentence with a preposition, shouldn’t split an infinitive, never should use the passive voice, and more, then, I have news for you: your English teacher may have led you astray.Let’s put those so-called grammar rules to rest, like the zombies they are.
Showing and Telling Part 3: Fixing Your Told Prose
“Show, don’t tell” is popular writing advice, but it can be tricky to understand what it really means. Telling is not always bad. But when it takes the reader out of an immersive experience or seems dry, you want to revise to show, don’t tell. This blog shows you how to do that in a variety of ways with clear examples.
Title Style Capitalization
Capitalizing words in titles and headings follows a set of style rules. It isn't as simple as capitalize the "big" words and lowercase the "small" words. This blog will walk you through those rules with clear examples.
Apostrophes to Create the Genitive
Apostrophes help form the genitive, possessive, form, and while it seems straightforward to add an apostrophe to make a noun possessive, many of the rules are nuanced or misunderstood, so it's good to clarify. Learn when to use the apostrophe and s versus just the apostrophe and how to handle joint possession and gerunds.
Varying Sentence Beginnings for Fiction Writers
While writing is highly subjective, some objective guidelines for good writing exist. For one, if you start too many sentences in a row with the same pattern (not necessarily the same word), your passage can sound monotonous or choppy. This isn't always the case. But it is a general objective guideline that good writing entails varying your sentence beginnings. Learn the various patterns for starting a sentence and when it's fine to have several in a row start the same way and when a rewrite may be in order.
Single Quotation Marks
While double quotation marks have a lot of functions, in US English single quotation marks are only used in a few instances. Learn when to use single quotation marks effectively.
Showing and Telling Part 2: When It’s Okay to Tell
No story can be complete without some telling. The advice "show, don't tell" should really be know when to show and when to tell. Learn when it is okay and even preferable to tell.
When to Use Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used for more than just dialogue. They can be used to mark a word used as a word, indicate sarcasm or irony, and around titles of short works. Learn when and how to use them correctly with these examples with practice and answer key.
