DailyWritingTips

6 Directions for Visual Display of Content

Whether you self-publish online or in print, or submit to publications in various media, consider not just the cognitive impact of the content but also the visual presentation. 1. Sentences Concise sentences are effective. They convey much information in few words. But a succession of several such sentences is wearying. A string of short sentences … Read more

Who Cares About “Whom” Anymore?

Repeat after me: “English is a living language.” As such, it is constantly metamorphosing. And though people like you and me do our best to stem an inexorable tide of change long enough to preserve high standards for the sake of clarity, we have to know when to get out of the way and let … Read more

Adverbs Are Really Quite Acceptable

Adverbs are to verbs as adjectives are to nouns: They modify action words. However, they can also support other parts of speech, such as adjectives and other adverbs, as well as clauses and even entire sentences. When writers want to add to detail in the form of answers to questions such as “Who?” “When?” and … Read more

One Never Knows, Does One?

A reader has asked me to comment on a question, presumably from some sort of language quiz: Please comment on this question. It’s how a person feels about (himself, oneself , themselves) that is important. The answer given is “himself.” What about “oneself” as the other possible answer. Is it acceptable? My first reaction was … Read more

Loanwords from 12+ Unexpected Languages

Language chauvinists in the United States who believe that English is being polluted by other tongues should pause to consider how few words in our language actually derive from Anglo-Saxon, the predecessor of Modern English. One survey determined that only one-fourth of the words in English come from its linguistic ancestors. That total is exceeded … Read more

In Regard to Your Letter…

As both noun and verb, the word regard has numerous meanings and uses in English. Sometimes it is correctly used in the plural; sometimes not. For example, in the polite formula Give my regards to your family, regard is correctly rendered in the plural. In this context, “regards” means “affectionate or respectful feelings.” In the … Read more

20 Classic Novels You Can Read in One Sitting

You know that in order to become a better writer, you need to become a better reader — and so polishing off some classic novels is in your future. But who has the time? You do. Nobody’s admonishing you to get your book report in within two weeks. But if you still feel pinched between … Read more

“To Be,” or Not “To Be”?

There’s no question: As useful as is, am, are, was, were, be, being, and been, um, are, their very ubiquity can overwhelm prose. The problem? Forms of “to be” tend to make a sentence generic and vague. Their easy utility is a sign that they should not be eliminated, but it’s easy enough to reduce … Read more

Use Archetypes to Create Literary Characters

In essence, any literary character is drawn from one or more archetypes. An archetype is basically the pattern for a character, associated with a trait or a concept. Archetypes are most easily recognized in genre fiction — science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller — but they are applicable to any fiction, whether of high or low … Read more

Be Careful About Careless Writing

Just the other day, I received an email from my dear friend Mary Fox, who begged me for assistance from afar. The warning lights came on one by one. In the first paragraph, she apologized for not letting me know about her “journey to Scotland . . . because it was a short notice from … Read more

What’s So Hard about “Docent”?

A new museum of American Art scheduled to open in November is busily training docents. Only they are not to be called docents because the directors feel that the word is too off-putting for potential visitors. The docents are to be called gallery guides. docent [(dō’sənt] One employed to instruct visitors about exhibits at a … Read more

Can You Craft New Words?

Are you allowed to create new words? The short answer is indubidefinitely. The very existence and survival of language depends on neologisms. But the long answer is, of course, more complicated. New word coinages, or new definitions for existing words (such as the use of coinage in a linguistic context), have been created for as … Read more