Proofreading tips to help professional writers, students, or anyone that writes as part of their work day. Error free writing and typing is possible! The skill of proofreading is necessary whether you are a student, a professional writer, or someone who creates lots of office memos. No matter the context in which you are writing,…
Insider came up with this list of the most famous books set in each state. How many have you read? AL “To Kill A Mockingbird” (Harper Lee) AK “Into the Wild” (Jon Krakauer) AZ “The Bean Trees” (Barbara Kingsolver) AR “A Painted House” (John Grisham) CA “Play It As It Lays” (Joan Didion) CO “The…
by: Jo Anne Fontanilla Every story takes place at same point or points in space and in time. It is incumbent upon the writer of fiction to “place” his story in space and time, as early as possible in his narrative, so that you will begin making the proper associations with the setting. The setting…
Dialogue can be a bit intimidating. All that punctuation. But it’s really not that complicated. The usual practice is to put dialogue in quotes and place an attribution after it, separated with a comma inside the closing quote mark. The attribution will not be capitalized, because it’s part of the same sentence: “Hello,” he said….
by: Jo Anne Fontanilla Every story takes place at same point or points in space and in time. It is incumbent upon the writer of fiction to “place” his story in space and time, as early as possible in his narrative, so that you will begin making the proper associations with the setting. The setting…
Passive writing is boring. Here’s a simple change you can apply to every sentence you write to make it more interesting. Simply look for the word “was.” For example: The house I grew up in was in Los Angeles. It was a low, ranch style house with some modern touches. It was designed by my…
Here’s the New York Times list of notable children’s books from 2016: Picture Books DU IZ TAK? Written and illustrated by Carson Ellis. (Candlewick, $16.99.) In this enchanting tale of bugs who build a fort in a plant, only to see it toppled by a spider, Ellis presents an imaginary land of stylish insects who…
I’ll try to keep this list updated. Please let me know of any good or bad experiences with these by dropping me a note at [email protected] Books for Adult Readers Baen Books Baen Books is a science fiction and fantasy publisher. It accepts unsolicited manuscripts for all books and prefers electronic submissions through its manuscript-submission…
What authors should have a website? Every one of them. But a writer or illustrator should have a website that contains information of value. Simply having a book⏤whether publisher or in-progress⏤listed on an author’s website is of little use to the viewer. Having information to support that book adds value. One of my students compiled…
Nearly all writers have a need for support and constructive criticism during the writing process. They want to make sure they’re on the right track, and that their results will meet the interests of agents, publishers or readers. The feedback provided by a group can help avoid time wasted in rewrites and editing. And positive…
Just like life, some stories are difficult to understand. Whether you are reading a novel or watching a play or film, there are times when you have to apply certain methods to better understand what you are reading or watching. Gustav Freytag, a German novelist and critic of the nineteenth century, observed the similarity of…
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