Have you completed one or more short stories, poems, or nonfiction
pieces? Perhaps you’d like some motivation — or to take the next step
with them. This post lists writing competitions for 2011 that feature
cash prizes of $1,000 or more and, often, publication deals for the
winner (plus, for many...
5 Billboard Taglines That Advertise Errors
I strongly advise against employing billboards to teach you proper
English grammar and spelling, but you can certainly use them to learn
what not to do. Here are some pain-inducing billboard boo-boos:
1. “Are you in or out?”
This tagline from the remake of Ocean’s Eleven won’t strike
many people...
5 Calls for a Comma Before “Because”
Use of the word because as a subordinating conjunction — to
link a main clause to a subordinating clause — should be simple, but a
sentence’s meaning often hinges on whether it’s preceded by a comma.
A straightforward sentence such as “We’re off to see the wizard
because of the wonderful things...
How to Style Titles of Compositions
Navigating the formatting rules about titles of compositions — books
and chapters, movies and TV shows, albums and songs, and the like — can
seem like negotiating a minefield. Here’s a handy map to help you
maneuver through the terrain:
In print, two primary formats exist for identifying a creative...
Rules for Capitalization in Titles
I used to think there were only two ways to use capitalization in a
title: (1) Capitalize only the first word in the title (except for
proper nouns), which I learned working for a local newspaper; and (2)
Capitalize the principal and longer words and lowercase the minor,
shorter words, which I...
Use Common Sense for Commas
Commas are such cute little things with curly tails that their
strength is often overlooked. When used haphazardly, their power can be
untapped or misused. Employed correctly, however, they do much to convey
a sentence’s meaning. The rules may seem complex, but they are also
commonsensical.
Many...
Writing Dialogue In Accents and Dialect
“W’en old man Rabbit say ‘scoot,’ dey scooted, en w’en ole Miss
Rabbit say ‘scat,’ dey scatted. Dey did dat. En dey kep’ der cloze
clean, and day ain’t had no smut on der nose nudder.” Uncle Remus – A Story About Little Rabbits, Joel Chandler Harris.
We have a long literary tradition of writing...
10 Words for Categories of Words
Antonym, homonym, pseudonym. Do nyms make you numb? Here’s a handy guide to words, familiar or unfamiliar, for classes of words:
Acronym: An abbreviation, pronounced as a word,
consisting of the initial letters of a multiword name or expression. It
can consist entirely of uppercase letters (NASA)...
10 Writing Exercises to Tighten Your Writing
Writing projects can be like children. You love them dearly, but
sometimes they irritate you to the point that you just need a break.
Working on something fresh and new can invigorate your mind and give you
a new approach to your work. These exercises can work for any genre of
writing, fiction...
“Because Of” and “Due To”
The saying “too many cooks spoil the broth” is spot on in the case of
English language. Today, even native speakers make blunders in written
and spoken English, being influenced by current trends. One such trend
we are talking about is the misuse of “due to” and “because of.”
Many are of the opinion...
How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing
Some people consider italics and boldface type — and quotation marks,
when they’re used other than as dialogue markers — to be just so many
noisy bells and whistles. They often are, when they’re misused, but when
they’re employed correctly and strategically, they send strong signals.
The following...
Compound Modifiers: Man-Eating Shark or Man Eating Shark?
The conventional reason for hyphenating words that temporarily work together as a single adjective is to avoid ambiguity.
Generations of young writers and editors have been advised by sadder
but wiser colleagues that they should swim well clear of a man-eating
shark. On the other hand, a man eating...
7 Essay Writing Tips To Ace Your Next Exam
1. After the initial panic passes, read through all
the questions before you begin to answer any of them, underlining key
words and phrases that will help guide you in your answer. In many
cases, instructors will incorporate key words and phrases from their
lectures in the exam question, so make...
Misplaced Modifier
Misplaced Words
Many single-word modifiers are often misplaced; these include only, almost, just, even, merely, hardly, and nearly, for example.
Consider how the meaning of the following sentence changes, depending on where you place the word only:
Only Susie gave $20 at the fundraiser. (No one else...
All About Abbreviations
An abbreviation is defined
as a shortened version of a word or phrase. But did you know that there
are many different types of abbreviations? Here is a list of
abbreviation types:
Acronym –
This forms a word using the initial parts or first letters of a name.
For example, ABBA, MADD, and OPEC...
Inhibit Vs Prohibit
Greg Landretti asks:
How about “inhibit” versus “prohibit”?
The first definition of inhibit in the OED gives “prohibit” as a synonym:
inhibit: trans. To forbid, prohibit, interdict (a person)
Several of the illustrations show inhibit being used where a modern writer would probably use prohibit....
tips menulis: Is "into" after "invade" really necessary?
My ears pricked up when I heard the local weatherman say that rain was expected to “invade into the River Valley.” Why, I wondered, hadn’t he said that rain was expected to “invade the River Valley? The verb invade includes the sense of “into.”
invade: transitive verb. to enter in a hostile manner,...
Tips menulis Novel: What's yout Novel's Log Line
The term log line (also spelled log-line and logline) is usually associated with movies, but the wise novelist will learn how to write one. In the context of writing (as opposed to measuring a ship’s rate of speed), a log line is the succinct summary of a story. According to the Wikipedia article,...
Word Count and Book Length
A novelist of my acquaintance insists that the only way to estimate the number of words in a book is to multiply the number of pages by 250. That was the formula in the good old days when Courier was the only typeface and typewriters were King. Now we have computers and word processing software. It’s...
Emblezzlement, Peculation, and Connotation
In a previous DWT post, Michael argues that there’s no such thing as a true synonym because a word’s connotation always colors its denotation.
Commenting on the article, a reader refuted Michael’s argument with the words peculation and embezzlement:
I
have found one [an exception], and...
