Affect vs. Effect
Among the pairs of words writers often confuse, affect and effect might be the most perplexing, perhaps because their meanings […]
How to Create a Character Profile
Have you created character profiles for the main cast of your novel? While not all authors use character profiles, many […]
Margaret Atwood’s MasterClass Review: A Course on Creative Writing
I wrote about MasterClass a couple of months ago in my review of James Patterson’s course on Writing – and […]
15 Groovy, Awesome, Swell and Cool Words
What’s your favorite word of compliment or admiration? How do you express approval? These are important questions for each generation […]
What Does [sic] Mean?
Samm [sic] asks “What does [sic] mean?” Sic in square brackets is an editing term used with quotations or excerpts. […]
When to Use a Comma: 10 Rules and Examples
Commas can be a particularly tricky punctuation mark. There are some cases where you know you should use a comma […]
How to Write a Novel: 10 Crucial Steps
Whatever you write: blog posts, short stories, client pieces – I suspect that, at some point, you’ve at least considered […]
What is the Difference Between Metaphor and Simile?
The terms metaphor and simile are slung around as if they meant exactly the same thing. A simile is a […]
All About Prepositional Phrases, with Over 60 Examples
This article contains every common preposition in the English language. Isn’t it nice to know that you can learn them […]
Mary Sue Test: Does Your Character Pass It?
Let’s say you’re writing a story that involves a character who’s smart, funny, gorgeous, and beloved by almost everyone. They […]
7 English Grammar Rules You Should Know
This post outlines seven general areas of grammar and syntax that writers must be familiar with to enable them to […]
Subject-Verb Agreement: Rules and Examples
One of the rules of language that you almost certainly know, even if you’ve never thought about it consciously, is […]