Do you know the difference between farther and further? Between like and such as? Do you know the differences with ’til and till and until? Do you know what’s wrong with telling me your character “lied”? If not, have a seat. You’ve got some learning to do.
Some of you who have been following and reading, and stalking, for a while might remember a series of posts in which I examined common grammar and punctuation errors. At first, it was done rather straightforward, but then it got out of hand. I was illustrating errors with pictures of women puking in the streets…
Too many people spout off about too many things about which they don’t know enough. And then there’s me. I spout off about things about which I am certain, unlike those fools. I mean, what do they know? They’re just uneducated people with uneducated opinions. Am I right? Well, sometimes, yeah. I suppose. Of the…
Time for a short, happy update on my own writing progress. You may have noticed that I am in the process of posting another set of first-draft chapters for a work in progress. While some have told me it’s a bad idea, the positives still beat the negatives for me so I’m sticking with it. I’m…
One of the greatest compliments I have ever received was from a colleague who had just read one of my sarcastic emails sent to inform the rest of the staff about something unimportant. Sue: “You will never get away with sending an anonymous letter.” Me: “Whaddya mean?” Sue: “Because I don’t even have to look at…
I recently received a rather unexpected comment on something I had written, and I think I did a good job of responding politely. Like most writers, I greatly look forward to comments, either positive or negative. Naturally, we like the positive nods because it means, usually, we did something well. I pause with usually…
I’m having a little trouble with something, but I can’t tell you what. Let me be more specific. I’m working on a short story, but I’m not sure if something is clear that needs to be clear. It’s a story about two regular, average kids in a regular, average, middle-American town. However, there’s something a…
Some call it proofreading, some call it editing, and I don’t really care which. Step 4 is easy. Punctuation? Spelling? Grammar? All good? Done. MSWord and spell check are a great help, but things will slip by. This step – for me – is almost unnecessary because I’m making an effort to proofread during the revising…
When I write a story, specifically fiction, I’m writing a movie. I assign actors I think could play my characters. A movie plays in my head. The chosen actors play the parts. I watch. I type what I see. That’s all I do. If a scene doesn’t work, I essentially yell “Cut!” and delete/backspace and…
brainsnorts inc. 