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Grammar

Writing 101: Semi-Colons & Other Tricky Punctuation Marks

June 24, 2025

Writing 101: Semi-Colons & Other Tricky Punctuation Marks

June 24, 2025

Punctuation can be surprisingly difficult, especially when it comes to lesser-used marks like semi-colons, dashes, and colons. When these marks are used incorrectly, readers are either distracted or confused. Because…

Writing 101: Avoiding the Most Common Dialogue Mechanics Mistakes

March 27, 2025

Writing 101: Avoiding the Most Common Dialogue Mechanics Mistakes

March 27, 2025

Strong dialogue isn’t just about the words being said—it’s also about how those words are presented on the page. If you’re newer to writing, there’s a lot to learn about…

Tools to Help You Become a Powerful Writer

February 4, 2020

Tools to Help You Become a Powerful Writer

February 4, 2020

The start of the year is when I pay close attention to what is happening in our industry: what publishers and organizations are focusing on, the changes occurring on sales…

Improve Your Novel Writing: 11 Tips For Newbies

November 14, 2019

Improve Your Novel Writing: 11 Tips For Newbies

November 14, 2019

Writing a novel is flipping difficult. It often takes years to complete your first novel (and even more years after that to write a good one). You heard that right…

Story Feedback: Free and Paid Options for Writers

October 15, 2019

Story Feedback: Free and Paid Options for Writers

October 15, 2019

It’s a sad fact, but most writers don’t have a basement full of money, meaning we have to think carefully about where we spend our money and why. Investing in…

Stripping Down My Prose: Risking the Removal of Adjectives

January 25, 2018

Stripping Down My Prose: Risking the Removal of Adjectives

January 25, 2018

Happy to welcome Margaret McNellis to the blog today. She’s tried an interesting experiment with her writing to create stronger, tighter prose, so please read on! When I was a Masters…

The Fatal Flaw of Underwriting

November 16, 2015

The Fatal Flaw of Underwriting

November 16, 2015

Hi everyone–I hope you had a terrific weekend and are in the mood to learn. Today I’m handing over the blog keys to Rachel Starr Thomson, one of the editors…

How to Craft a Strong Metaphor

October 4, 2010

How to Craft a Strong Metaphor

October 4, 2010

Metaphors. Most of us know we should use them, that they’re a good way to describe, but not everyone has a solid understanding of what they are. Seeing as metaphors…

Seven Deadly Novel Writing Sins: Flat Wordsmithing

January 20, 2010

Seven Deadly Novel Writing Sins: Flat Wordsmithing

January 20, 2010

Sin # 5: Flat Wordsmithing We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘The writing is flat.’ The question is, what does that really mean? Flat writing is where the prose lies dead…