Does the cast of characters in your novel or short story fall under some of these categories? Take care that your characters don’t fall into the cliché trap: If you find that they resemble one of the stereotypes below, reconsider your characterization or at least provide the dramatis persona with a distinguishing personality characteristic that’s … Read more
The prefix for denoting repetition is re-, but its presence in a word doesn’t necessarily indicate a repeat of an action. Here, as examples, are five words starting with re- that differ in sense from their root words. 1. Rebate: To bate is to deduct or restrain, but the word, used rarely, usually is employed … Read more
The predominant way to represent the past tense of a verb is to add -ed, but some verbs take -t as a variant ending, or even as the only form. Here are forty such verbs, including some ubiquitous words (like left and shot) we may not even think of as having irregular forms because they … Read more
One can often stumble through a sentence that isn’t quite right and then backtrack to make sense of it and then, reasonably confident of its meaning, slog out again and continue on one’s way. Or one can waltz right through a sentence and keep right on dancing. Which technique do you prefer your readers to … Read more
Writers sometimes have difficulty differentiating in their syntax between something and its name. Here are some examples of this type of error, with explanations and solutions. 1. “The cartoon series is so inspired by the city that all characters are local street names.” Here, the writer attempts to explain that names in the cast of … Read more
Just a week after a typographical error in campaign materials for Mitt Romney prompted newspaper headlines, more spelling mistakes by the Romney campaign and the Obama administration alike made the news. A misspelling of America in Romney’s iPhone “With Mitt” app was followed by a reference to Ronald Reagan spelled “Ronald Regan” in a slide … Read more
If you read Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life — and if you would like to think of yourself as a novelist or a memoirist, you are strongly advised to do so — be prepared for her disarming, slightly unhinged candor, for relentless reminders that writing is a labor … Read more
Formatting quotations can be tricky, especially when the words between the quotation marks do not constitute a complete sentence. How would you revise these clumsily formatted partial quotations? For each example, compare your corrections to mine in the paragraphs following each one. 1. “These days, says Smith, ‘The market does the valuation work for you.’” … Read more
If you have not enrolled on the Freelance Writing Course yet, make sure to do it today, as the doors will be closing later today (at midnight GMT). We will open it again in the future, but probably not until 2013. Visit the official page, where you can get all the details and enroll. We … Read more
What’s the difference between regime and regimen? In one sense, there is none, but in their most common connotations, one letter makes a lot of difference. Both terms stem ultimately from Latin regere, meaning “to direct.” They are related to other words starting with reg-, such as regular, regulate, and regulation. In addition, they are … Read more
A recent newspaper blog post about a typographical error on Mitt Romney’s iPhone “With Mitt” app — it refers to “A Better Amercia” — inevitably succumbed to Muphry’s law, which states that any criticism of a writing or editing error will itself contain such an error. After commenting on the mistake, the blogger referred to … Read more
The day has finally come. Our Freelance Writing Course is live, and you can enroll today. It runs for six weeks (this being the first one), covering a wide range of topics related to freelance writing on the Internet. If you like to write and want to explore the possibility of making money by doing it online, … Read more