DailyWritingTips

WhiteSmoke Software Review

Editor’s Note: WhiteSmoke has been a sponsor of the blog for a while, and we often get emails from readers asking how good their software are. That is why we decided to review it. But keep in mind we did not get paid to do it. Ali Hale did the review for us, and I … Read more

When and How to Use Brackets

Reader John B. Moss asks if there are guidelines for the use of brackets. There are indeed. Academic style guides such as the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers go into such matters at great length. The most common use of brackets is to enclose explanatory matter that one adds in editing the work … Read more

On-tap Inspiration Online

Do you ever find that you have an hour or two free to write, but you just can’t get inspired? Whether you want a compelling idea for your next short story, a topic for your blog or a starting prompt for a poem, your brain just seems to be blank. If only there were some … Read more

Word of the Day: Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy [byʊ-rŏk’rə-sē] refers to the administrative system that governs social organizations. Bureaucracy includes laws, regulations, departments, and committees. Bureaucracy is often used in a negative sense to denote procedures which seem to reject common sense and human feeling in favor of inflexible rules and regulations. The adjective is bureaucratic. One of Schools Chancellor Joel I. … Read more

The More You Tell, The More You Sell

Most writers don’t need encouragement to write more words. After all, that’s how some of them get paid: by the word! Using the words you need and no more – writing concisely – is a skill that every writer spends a lifetime learning. Mark Twain once said, “I didn’t have time to write a short … Read more

An Article Marketing Guide

Article marketing is a great way to promote a product, service, website or blog. The name says it all: article marketing means marketing yourself with articles and it’s easy to do if you know how. Here’s how to create a good article marketing article. The Title The title of your article is the most important … Read more

Pen Or Keyboard – How Do You Write?

Last week, my grandmother (who knows I do a lot of writing) asked me, “Do you write straight onto the computer or do you write by hand first?” I explained that I write almost everything on a computer now – but six or seven years ago, I used to draft fiction, in particular, by hand. … Read more