Why do people read?

One of the first principles new authors are taught is to know your audience. Who are you writing for? To bring this point home, ask yourself why you read, whether it’s a blog post, an article in a newspaper or magazine, a novel, or a non-fiction book. Share This:

Toward Less Boring Linking-Words

So, you’ve done a lot of research, and now it’s time to start writing, or you’ve written your piece and it’s time to read it through for a first self-edit. When you’ve written down your thoughts, they may appear on paper as you speak in everyday conversation. Share This:

Textual Ambiguity

Ambiguity is a word, phrase, or statement that contains more than one meaning. Ambiguous words or statements lead to vagueness and confusion, and shape the basis for instances of unintentional humor. Share This:

Some Common Writing Mistakes

Unless you’re perfect, it’s likely that you have or will make some mistakes in your writing. The most common are typos, such as missing words, missing or too many punctuation marks, misspelled words, and the like. Many of these may be detected by your word processing software, but these minor errors are more mechanical than

Read more ›

On the word ‘like’

The word “like” is one of the most common English words. It has many usages, some standard, some colloquial, and some completely idiomatic. Following is an analysis, with recommendations for good usage. Share This:

Do You Wanna Write Good?

It’s reasonably difficult to define “good” writing. Many of the criteria are somewhat subjective. It’s even questionable whether good writing must meet all the grammar, spelling, and punctuation “rules”, especially if one of the aims of the written piece is to defy these rules. Share This:

Negative Prefixes

Most of us grow up learning the negative prefixes by hearing them spoken in context. But, what determines which prefix to use in order to form that word’s opposite? Why is it unlawful, but it’s illegal? Why is it infirm, but it’s impaired? And how do you know what prefix to use when you need

Read more ›

How to Judge a Good (or Bad) Book

There are many judges when it comes to deciding whether a book is “good” (or not). First of all, do you, the author, like what you’ve written? Or was it just labor? Second, did you use an editor? What did he or she think? Finally, there’s the consumer. Did you get any direct feedback? Were

Read more ›