You might think avoiding other influences makes you a more original writer. But nobody can write in a vacuum. Even the meanings of words depend on how others have used them. You didn’t invent the English language. Everything you write, you learned from someone else, even if only from your first grade teacher. Only when … Read more
If you are still on the fence about becoming a DailyWritingTips Pro subscriber, here are five reasons that will certainly convince you to join today. 1. 50% discount ($3.99 per month) The regular price of the subscription is $7.99 per month. For a limited time we are offering the subscription with a 50% discount, so … Read more
This post discusses two categories of parts and speech key to helping writers describe things and actions. Adjectives An adjective is a word or a combination of two or more words that modify or provide additional information about a noun. There are three general uses of adjectives: attributive, predicate, and nominal. An attributive adjective generally … Read more
This post lists and defines words deriving from the adjective primus, meaning “first” or “finest.” premier: first, or earliest; as a noun, a synonym for “prime minister” premier danseur/première danseuse: the first male and female dancer, respectively, in a ballet company premiere: most commonly, a first performance or broadcast of a performing-arts production or the … Read more
If you read my post of resume tips a few weeks ago, you’ll already be familiar with best practice for writing a great resume. While there’s nothing wrong with hand-crafting your resume in Microsoft Word (or your word processor of choice), there are plenty of online tools that can save you lots of time by … Read more
You’ve probably read those acknowledgements at the back of a book: “Special thanks to Nobel Prize winner Niels Ryberg Finsen for the many hours of medical advice and strong coffee he shared with me, without which this book would not be possible.” And you’ve wondered what it takes to get a world-famous expert of your … Read more
Have you ever daydreamed about writing for the big screen? I know I have! Writing a screenplay that gets picked up by Hollywood could see your story reach millions of people – whereas even bestselling novels often only sell in the tens of thousands. Writing a screenplay is very different from writing a short story … Read more
The simple insertion, deletion, or relocation of a comma (or two) can alter a sentence’s meaning, so when writing or editing a sentence, carefully analyze it to determine whether the punctuation (or lack thereof) serves its intended meaning or whether it creates grammatical confusion. The following examples illustrate the significant difference punctuation can make; discussion … Read more
Every writer, at times, has trouble thinking of what to say next. Or what to say at all. The cause may be fear, pressure, perfectionism, but often lack of inspiration. No doubt even Mesopotamian scribes of five thousand years ago hesitated before putting stylus to tablet. We’ve written about writer’s block several times over the … Read more
This post lists and describes words deriving from the Latin verb computare, meaning “sum up,” that, unlike computer and the like, do not closely follow the original spelling. Count derives its diversion from the spelling of computare from its journey to English through Old French, which spelled the verb conter. To count is to add … Read more
As a writer, I have probably learned the most from having tight word counts. In several assignments, each piece had to be 150 words or less, or 250 words or less, or three lines or less. Sometimes the whole publication had to fit on one page, or in one column. This kind of micro-editing is … Read more