This is a guest post by Debra Wheatman. If you want to write for Daily Writing Tips check the guidelines here. W. Fowler coined the term “elegant variation” to denote the unnecessary use of synonyms to denote a single thing. One of his examples was a newspaper excerpt in which the writer referred to the … Read more
This is a guest post by Jennifer Blanchard. If you want to write for Daily Writing Tips check the guidelines here. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a huge fan of the thesaurus. I’ve used it throughout my writing career—All the way from day one back when I was 12-years-old. In fact, … Read more
Rife is an adjective which means abundant, prevalent, or of common occurrence. Synonyms include widespread, extensive and ubiquitous. Pronunciation: /rīf/ In an opaque justice system rife with corruption, who you know may matter more than what you know about the law. (LA Times) The microblogging site was rife with commentary and erroneous theories about the … Read more
A reader commenting on my e-mail post brought my attention to a term I’d not heard before: It will end up simply as book, but before that happens it will be ebook—just as email ended up as email. eBook looks entirely too corporate to me, and I doubt if the general writing public will ever … Read more
I figured that it would be useful to have a page on the blog dedicated to books about writing. This initial list was created taking into consideration the books that our writers reviewed or recommended in the past. We plan to update it regularly as well. If you have a suggestion just write a comment … Read more
Until now, the only Thesaurus on my shelves was Roget’s, and it was gathering dust because I quit using it years ago. I found it more useful to look up a word in a regular dictionary and see what synonyms were offered. Not ideal, but it gave me more options than Roget’s. Now, however, I’ve … Read more
Until recently I thought that the pleonasm “even still” was to be found only in the uncertain writings of college freshmen. Then I read this in the current issue of my favorite writer’s magazine: Traditionally published books get the nice displays, posters and extra attention from store managers. Even still, many of the titles end … 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
No-one knows it all, and as a writer I use several sources of research for my articles and ebooks. Aside from the resources I use to research particular topics, there are also several essential books I need related to the craft of writing. Here are the books on my bookshelf which I couldn’t do without. … Read more
Below you will find the most popular posts of this month. Check them out if you missed any. Give me an “A”: a vs. an: The indefinite articles a and an both mean the same thing. The definite article the refers to a particular thing (”Give me the ring! The wedding ring!”) while a and … Read more
Many writers use continuous and continual as if they were exact synonyms, but my English teachers taught their students to distinguish between them. Both adjectives describe duration. Continuous indicates duration without interruption. Ex. The continuous humming of the fluorescent lights gave him a headache. Continual indicates duration that continues over a long period of time, … Read more
Writing is a battle. On one side: the force of your important message. On the opposing side: the forces of ignorance and misunderstanding. Your weapons: your words. Your support: the entire tradition of the English language. Calls for more precise writing are often met with complaints of “Aw, do I have to?” That was the … Read more