The time we all have been waiting for has finally arrived. It is the Grand Final of the first Short Story Competition on our blog. We had 8 batches over the past 8 weeks, each with 10 stories competing for an entrance on this final. As you can imagine the quality of the stories you … Read more
I learned about “elegant variation” from my high school English teacher, but even she taught about it with a slightly-skeptical smile. It’s a rule that many writers feel bound to follow when they don’t need to. According to this so-called rule, a writer should never use the same word twice in a paragraph. Newscasters follow … Read more
One of the basic grammatical rules in English is that every sentence should contain a verb. Some of Daily Writing Tips’s readers may have had sentences underlined in red at school if they weren’t a “proper sentence” – and I’m sure many of you (especially fiction writers) have had Microsoft Word squiggle a green line … Read more
Since I am currently participating in an Old English seminar–we’re translating Beowulf–I’m especially sensitive to anything that may seem like a slur on Old English, the fascinating language that was the origin of modern English. Today’s post is inspired by a reader’s comment taken out of context. (See Sue’s remarks in context at Among/Amongst. They’re … Read more
It’s hard work to increase your vocabulary by memorising long lists of words and definitions, or to improve your spelling by constantly writing out words you get wrong. Why not try playing some word-based games instead? If you have kids, these are great ways to help them with their writing skills whilst having fun! Scrabble … Read more
All right folks, with the eight stories being presented today we arrive at 76 total entries! That is a bunch of them huh? If you sent one and it never appeared on one of the batches, let me know as soon as possible and I will try to include it on this one. You have … Read more
Bromide (brō’mīd’), a compound of bromine, is a sedative. Used figuratively it can mean a dull person or a trite saying. Yes, I said, I now realized that CBS had a duty not to disturb the public blandness. ”What I don’t understand, though, is why CBS News tells everybody it’s in the news business,” I … Read more
Writing is a form of communication, but for many amateur writers, its most important purpose is for communicating with themselves. That sounds strange, but seeing your own words on paper helps you understand who you are and what you’re thinking, even in the moment as you’re writing them down. Don’t underestimate the value of writing … Read more
Whatever sort of writing you do, it’s important to revise and edit your work – especially if you write academic essays, or articles or short stories that you’ll be submitting to editors. However much time you took over the piece on the first draft, you’ll always find a few mistakes to correct. This is the … Read more
Sometimes, you’ve got an hour or two free – but you don’t feel like writing. All the advice in the world on becoming inspired or getting self-disciplined just isn’t helping you. For whatever reason, you know your ability to string together a new article or story is temporarily absent. This needn’t be a problem: there … Read more
I thought this week we would have the final batch of stories, but we still have one more to go next week. We were left with 15 stories, so instead of making a bigger batch, we will have 8 competing today, and 7 next week. That way you have more time to read each of … Read more