Ali Hale Writing in the active voice means constructing sentences where the subject “acts”: I threw the ball. You are making too much noise. Ben will eat popcorn and watch a movie tomorrow evening. In each of these sentences, the subject (I, You and Ben respectively) performs the action of the verb (threw, making, will watch). The … Read more
How short can a “short story” be? Merriam-Webster just defines it as “shorter than a novel”, telling us that a short story is: an invented prose narrative shorter than a novel usually dealing with a few characters and aiming at unity of effect and often concentrating on the creation of mood rather than plot Most … Read more
Renee wrote to us to ask: Can you please clarify the proper way to use these words: loan, lend, loaned, lent? Thank you! If you’ll lend me a few minutes of your time, Renee, I’d be glad to! How to use the word “loan” as a noun and verb The word loan is most commonly … Read more
One of our readers, Billy Green, wrote to ask: Could you enlighten some of us old folks about the proper use of footnotes? Below is what I wrote to the publisher: I am a firm believer in footnotes printed on the same page where the asterisk is printed. Nowadays in many books which are published, … Read more
One of our readers, Robert, wrote to ask Daily Writing Tips: Here’s a couple of words I use all the time interchangeably. But are they? a while vs. awhile Help me out, o oracle! No problem, Robert! This one’s pretty easy to grasp: A while is a noun meaning “a length of time” “I slept … Read more
One of our readers, Susabelle wrote to ask: Can you take on explaining the difference between “inquire” and “enquire?” These are two spellings of the same word, which means to seek information about something or to conduct a formal investigation (usually when followed by “into”). The corresponding noun is enquiry or inquiry. Either spelling can … Read more
One of our readers recently asked if we could explain the difference between especially and specially. The words especial and special can be used almost interchangeably. They both mean something which was “out of the ordinary” or even “exceptional”. Merriam-Webster defines especial as meaning “being distinctive”: as a: directed toward a particular individual, group, or … Read more
One reader asks: “What advice would you give to someone who has bags of passion and loves life and just happens to have lots of stories and would like to know how to publish or where to publish?” I’m really glad this reader writes from the heart. A short story which is meaningful to you, … Read more
One of our readers, Justin, recently wrote to ask: When proofreading a peer’s article on the solar system, I realized that she, and I, are unsure of the proper use of “that” and “which” in a sentence. Below is [SIC] two examples of the same sentence, one using “that” and the other “which.” “To our … Read more
One of the best ways to make your writing stronger is to cut unnecessary words. Many people tend to over-write, often in a similar way to how they would speak. Words creep in that add no meaning and can make a piece of writing sound vague and woolly rather than confidence and precise. Just This … Read more
If you’ve ever had aspirations towards fiction-writing, you’ve doubtlessly heard the advice to keep a notebook on you at all times, to jot down those elusive flashes of brilliance that come at the most inopportune moments. It’s definitely a good idea to have pen and paper to hand as much as possible – however, the … Read more
One of our readers wrote to ask if we could clarify the difference between program and programme. The Noun: Program or Programme? The basic difference is between different languages: American English always uses program British English uses programme unless referring to computers Australian English recommends program for official usage, but programme is still in common … Read more