3 Types of Redundancy to Avoid

Redundancy in a sentence is annoying, and it is also a nuisance. Conveying information in more than one way, or by repeating wording, is consciously or subconsciously distracting to the reader and contributes to compositional clutter. Note in the discussions and revisions following each example how the sentence in question can be improved by deleting such infelicities.

1. Like Smith, Jones also owns a family-run business.

When an additive word or phrase such as like or “in addition to” introduces a sentence, using also to bridge the complementary phrases is redundant: “Like Smith, Jones owns a family-run business.”

2. Many components, such as asset balance, deposit balance, and interest income, etc., should be sensitive to the change in the macroeconomic environment.

Use of a phrase like “such as” or “for example” (or the corresponding abbreviation e.g.) is redundant to etc. (or “and so on”): “Many components, such as asset balance, deposit balance, and interest income, should be sensitive to the change in the macroeconomic environment.” (Or “Many components—asset balance, deposit balance, and interest income, etc.—should be sensitive to the change in the macroeconomic environment.”) Note, however, that i.e., which means “that is” (or “that is” itself), pertains to clarification and not to listing of examples, so it is not redundant to etc.

3. But the policy is not solely about consumers; it is about what the law calls a data subject. A data subject is defined as a living individual to whom personal data relates.

Avoid ending one sentence and beginning the subsequent sentence with the same word or phrase, which generally occurs when a word or phrase is introduced and then immediately defined: “But the policy is not solely about consumers; it is about what the law calls a data subject, which is defined as a living individual to whom personal data relates.”

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Adjectives and Adverbs Guide

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 precedes the noun it modifies, as with broken in “a broken heart.” (One type of attributive adjective is a noun adjunct, a noun that functions as an adjective when it modifies another noun, as with kitchen in “kitchen counter.”) However, the noun may precede the adjective in the case of a postpositive adjective (also called a postnominal adjective), which occurs when the adjective is itself modified by an adverbial phrase, as in “a heart broken for the last time” and in phrases borrowed from other languages (such as “heir apparent”) and archaic or poetic usage (as in “forest primeval”).

A predicate adjective is connected to a preceding noun by a linking verb, as with curious in “children are curious,” and a nominal adjective is one that functions as a noun substitute. This may occur in reference to a collective group when the noun is implied, as in “the wealthy,” or in the case of a superlative such as “the biggest,” or when a noun is elided rather than repeated (“I’ll wear the red shirt, and you wear the green”).

Determiners are a category of words formerly considered by linguists as adjectives but now classified as a distinct part of speech, though dictionaries still identify them as a type of adjective. Examples of determiners that resemble adjectives in use include demonstrative determiners such as this and that, distributive determiners such as each and any, interrogative determiners such as what and which, possessive determiners such as my and their, quantifying determiners such as few and many, and numbers.

Phrasal adjectives, modifying phrases that precede or follow a noun, are usually hyphenated, when they precede the noun, to emphasize their combination, as in “hardest-working employee,” but not when they follow (“the employee who is the hardest working”). Exceptions are made for permanent phrasal adjectives (such as cost-effective) that appear in the dictionary; these retain hyphenation after a noun. (Also, adjectival compounds beginning with self, such as self-respecting, are always hyphenated.) Likewise, omit hyphens in standing phrasal adjectives such as “post office” that are not hyphenated in their dictionary entries (“post office employee”).

A source of hyphenation error is when a noun phrase that often appears as a phrasal adjective, such as “long term,” is hyphenated. Hyphenation is correct in a phrasal adjective before a noun (“a long-term plan”), but such a term is open not only after a noun (“a plan that is long term”) but also in isolation as a noun phrase (“in the long term”).

Also, take care with comparative and superlative adjectives used in phrases such as “more punitive measures.” When “more punitive” is not hyphenated, more means “additional.” However, when a hyphen is employed, the phrase means “punitive to a greater degree.”

Phrasal adjectives may include more than two words, as in “happy-go-lucky attitude,” but strings of more than three words are inadvisable, especially when they consist of a train of nouns employed as adjectives, such as in “data leakage prevention strategy.” Technically, the first three words, which together modify strategy, should be hyphenated (“data-leakage-prevention strategy”) to aid in reader comprehension (otherwise, the reader may not recognize the intended relationship until the last word is reached and may have to backtrack to understand the phrase), but such usage is cumbersome; it is often better to rephrase the term (for example, “strategy to prevent data leakage”).

Adverbs

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb or another part of speech to describe what, when, where, why, or how an action occurs; adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses also perform this function. The term adverb most familiarly applies to words ending in -ly that without the suffix serve as adjectives, such as lively, as in “They watched the lively performance.” However, many adverbs lack the suffix, as when they refer to location (for example, up or there), time (soon or today), frequency (seldom or daily), and so on.

In addition, adverbs may be flat, meaning that they are root forms of -ly adverbs. These often appear on their own in informal contexts (as with quick in “Run quick to the store”) but may also appear in adverbial phrases, as in “quick-acting compound.” (Note that adverbial phrases are distinguished from phrasal adjectives in that they usually do not include hyphens—hyphenation in such phrases as “privately held” is erroneous. Those with flat adverbs are an exception.)

Adverbs also modify parts of speech other than verbs. For example, in “quite annoying,” the adverb quite modifies the adjective annoying, and in “very quietly,” one adverb modifies another. The adverb only may modify a noun (“She drinks water only”), and adverbs modify prepositional phrases (in “I was almost up the stairs,” almost modifies not wasbut “up the stairs”) and clauses or even entire sentences (as in the case of actually in “Actually, they are on their way now”).

Adverbs that modify an entire sentence rather than a verb or another part of speech are called sentence adverbs. Often, they begin a sentence, as actually does in the example in the previous sentence, or as often does in this sentence you are reading, though they may appear in the midst of a sentence or, as a tag following a comma (or, sometimes, a dash) at the end of a sentence. Many sentence adverbs, such as clearly, fortunately, and regrettably, signal that the sentence represents the writer’s opinion or at least conveys a bias.

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8 Great Writing Tips for Kids

Here are my best tips on how to keep growing and improving as a writer, however young you are:

#1: Have a go at some writing exercises – you can find lots of these online, or you could have a go at them in workbooks or school books. Lots of adults find writing exercises helpful, too, so that they can get better at writing. You can find some great ones to try here.

#2: Read a lot. Almost every writer I know is also a keen reader. Try to read a wide range of different things – like classic story books as well as modern ones, non-fiction (factual) books, magazine or newspaper articles, and so on. You’ll come across lots of different ways to write, and you might learn some new words.

#3: Keep a little book of new words you learn.Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t understand a word the first time you read it. Sometimes you can guess from the rest of the sentence what it means, but if not, you can just look it up in a dictionary. You might want to ask an adult how to say the new word, too – you could write down how it sounds. For instance, “matron” is pronounced “may-tron” (with a long “a” sound) not “mah-tron” (with a short “a” sound), which is how I thought it was said when I first read it in an Enid Blyton story.

#4: Try writing stories for children younger than you, or stories that involve children younger than you. This is a great thing to do when you’re still quite young yourself, because you can remember what it’s like to be six or seven. (Adult writers find it hard to remember, and often they create young children characters who are too babyish for their age.) If you have a little brother or sister, or a younger cousin, you could read your stories out to them.

#5: Remember that even adults don’t get things right first time. Sometimes I get a spelling wrong, or I write a sentence that’s confusing for my reader. And I’m a professional writer! It’s fine to make mistakes, so don’t worry about getting everything perfect in your first draft. Just make sure you leave a bit of time to go back and edit afterwards (just like adult writers do) so that you can fix any mistakes.

#6: Have a go at different types of writing. When I was young, I like to make pretend magazines or newspapers. That’s something that children have enjoyed doing for a very long time – in one of my favourite classic children’s books, The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit, the children in the story make their own newspaper filled with things they’ve written. Maybe you could have a go at making a newspaper to share with your family and friends – or maybe you’d like to write poetry or a play script, or something else entirely.

#7: Keep a journal about your day to day life.There are lots of ways to do this – you could write a sentence or two each day, for instance, or you could write a longer piece once a week. You could write about what you’re learning at school, who your friends are, the games you’ve been playing … even what you had for lunch! Details that might seem boring now could be really interesting when you read your journal when you’re 20 or 30 or even 80!

#8: Ask for help if you get stuck. If there’s something you don’t understand in what you’re reading, or if you can’t work out if something you’ve written is quite right, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Most adults will be very glad to give you a hand. You could try a teacher, or a librarian (either at your school library or your local library). If you get to meet any adult writers, perhaps through school or at an event, think up some good questions for them too!

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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 find them a very handy tool for keeping track of their characters – and for developing and fleshing out those characters in the first place.

Done well, a character profile can help you harness your creativity and really dig into who your characters are. 

Sometimes, though, writers treat character profiles as a form-filling exercise, coming up with their character’s eye color, hair color, first job, etc without investing any of this with a deeper meaning.

They might diligently complete character profiles for every character in their novel – even the bus driver who only has a walk-on part in chapter five – but they’re not any closer to having any real insight into their characters.

So what should go in your character profile … and how should you use it?

What to Include in a Character Profile

Firstly, not every character in your novel needs a profile at all.

Characters who have a minor role (like your protagonist’s mother, who only appears briefly a couple of times) don’t need to be fully fleshed out. Of course, you might want to make some brief notes about them … but this definitely doesn’t need to be an entire profile.

Your main characters, though, should have individual profiles. That probably includes any viewpoint character. If you have an antagonist then it’s worth creating a profile for them too (after all, even if your main character just doesn’t “get” where the antagonist is coming from, you should).

It’s entirely up to you how you structure your character profiles. In general, though, I’d suggest that:

You don’t focus too much on physical details.You may want to include things like hair color and eye color if you’re ever likely to mention them – but you can leave them out if they’re not going to be relevant. The same goes for height and build: unless they’re unusual and significant, you don’t necessarily need them at all.

If you are including physical details, think about how they relate to deeper aspects of your character. For instance, in Harry Potter, the fact that Harry has green eyes is significant because it’s the physical characteristic that links him to his mother.

You spend some time exploring deeper questions about your character: things like “what’s the mistake they regret most?” or “in what situations would they lie?” or “what false beliefs do they hold?” These sort of questions will result in a much richer, more real character than a simple list of physical characteristics.

The first ebook I ever bought online, back in around 2007, was Holly Lisle’s Create a Character Clinic. This is still one of my favorite resources for character creation: it goes far beyond the typical “character questionnaire” to dig deep into what really makes characters tick (and it includes lots of examples, too).

If you’re using a template or questionnaire that you’ve found online, don’t feel that you need to complete every single part of it – especially if it’s a long one! Focus on the bits that are most impactful or that help you to imagine your character more fully: if you do decide to fill in the rest, you can simply do it at a later stage.

Don’t get hung up on creating the “perfect” character profile before you begin writing – because it’ll almost certainly change as you go along.

Which brings me on to…

Why Your Character Profile Will Need Updating Regularly

If you create your character profiles during the pre-writing phase of your novel, you’ll almost certainly find that your understanding of your character shifts as you write the first draft.

Perhaps the thing you thought they sincerely regretted from their past turns out to be something they’re actually quite proud of – at least initially.

Perhaps you realize that it makes much more sense for them to have grown up somewhere rural, not in a city.

Perhaps you change them radically: maybe you merge two characters together, or you change a character’s gender or age. (Or their name: a lot of my characters end up changing names part-way through the writing process as I figure out a name that’s a better “fit”.)

Your character profile definitely isn’t set in stone. It’s fine to change your mind and rework it – but do make sure that you actually update it to reflect the changes you’ve made during the writing process.

Otherwise, it can be very confusing several chapters later when you want to bring a character back in but you can’t now remember if they’re supposed to be 35 or 25, or whether they’re tall with dark brown hair or short with strawberry blonde hair.

Character profiles can be a great tool for creating and fleshing out interesting characters for your novel; they’re also a useful working document that you can use to help you stay on track and keep things consistent during the writing process.

If you’ve never created a character profile before, why not give it a go today?

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When to Use a Colon: Rules and Examples

The colon can be a tricky punctuation mark. You’ve probably grasped periods, question marks, exclamation points, and commas – but the rules surrounding colons may seem a bit trickier.

There are two main ways to use colons:

• To introduce an item or a series of items.
• To replace a semi-colon between two independent clauses: the second clause should explain or expand on the first in some way.

As you can see, I’ve used both types of colon above.

Colons can trip writers up, though. Perhaps you’re not sure whether to use a capital letter after a colon, or you’re unsure how to structure a list of items that follows a colon.

We’re going to go through some key rules that will hopefully clear things up.

Rule #1: Use a Colon to Introduce One or More Items, When Punctuation is Required

Here are some examples of colons being used correctly, preceding an item or multiple items when the sentence requires punctuation at that point.

I needed just one thing: courage.

(Not “I needed just one thing courage.”)

Bring the following equipment: a torch, warm clothing, and waterproof boots.

(Not “Bring the following equipment a torch, warm clothing, and waterproof boots.”)

However, you should not use a colon if the sentence does not require punctuation.

For instance, the following sentences are correct without a colon:

I needed courage.

(Not “I needed: courage.”)

You should bring a torch, warm clothing, and waterproof boots.

(Not “You should bring: a torch, warm clothing, and waterproof boots.”)

Rule #2: Use a Colon Before Listing Items with Bullet Points

It you’re listing items line by line, you should use a colon to introduce the list – even if that same colon wouldn’t be required for a list in sentence form. Here’s an example:

You should bring:

• A torch
• Warm clothing
• Waterproof boots

Rule #3: Be Consistent With Punctuation of Bullet Points

When using a colon to introduce a list in this way, capitalization and ending punctuation aren’t always necessary.

If each item on the list is a complete sentence, you should always capitalize the first letter and finish with a period (or question mark or exclamation point, if appropriate). In other cases, though, it’s up to you whether or not you want to capitalize and use periods – just be consistent.

You should bring:

• A torch.
• Warm clothing!
• Waterproof boots.

This example is consistent because each item ends with a punctuation mark: either a period or an exclamation point.

Rule #4: Carefully Consider Capitalizing a Complete Sentence After a Colon

Some editors believe that it’s always best to capitalize a complete sentence that comes after a colon, like this:

He asked for help: He got it.

Others believe that you should generally avoid capitalizing in this way, instead preferring:

He asked for help: he got it.

Some would say that you don’t need to capitalize if the clause after the colon bears a close relationship to the clause before the colon, but would capitalize a general or formal statement, such as:

Remember what your mother taught you: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

In these cases, it’s best to either consult the style guide for the publication you’re writing for, or to create a consistent style guide for your own work.

There are a couple of cases in which you should always capitalize the sentence after a colon, though.

When it’s a Complete or Full Sentence Quotation

The chair made an announcement: “This meeting will have to be postponed.”

In that example, “This” has to be capitalized because it’s the start of a full sentence quotation.

When the Information After the Colon Requires Two (or More) Sentences

The rules were inflexible: No running in the corridors. No shouting. Always walk on the right.

In this case, it makes sense to capitalize the first “No” because it’s the first of three full sentences.

Rule #5: Use a Colon to Introduce an Extended Quotation

Whether you’re writing an essay, a non-fiction book, or a blog post, there’ll be times when you want to quote someone else at some length (more than a sentence or two). This means using a “block quotation” that goes in its own standalone paragraph. This should normally be preceded by a colon, and should be indented from the left margin – some style guides also indent from the right margin.

 In 26 Feel-Good Words, Michael wrote:

Some writers neglect the power of emotion when communicating their ideas, valuing logic more than others do, and assuming that everyone thinks like they do – that careful reasoning is enough to convince readers and make points. But even the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who was no enemy of reason, taught that stimulating emotion in your audience can be the key to persuading them.

Rule #6: Use a Colon After the Salutation in a Business Letter (Depending on Where You Live)

In American and Australian usage, the salutation (greeting) should be followed by a colon in formal correspondence – this applies whether you’re using someone’s surname or first name:

Dear Mr Richardson:

Informal or personal correspondence uses a comma in place of this colon.

In British English, though, you should use a comma after the salutation – never a colon – for formal business letters as well as for informal letters.

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/when-to-use-a-colon/

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Definitely use “the” or “a”

When to use the indefinite article a and when to use the definite article the depends mostly on how specific you want to be. During a wedding ceremony the groom would say, “Give me the ring! The wedding ring!” because he must have a particular ring, while a carpenter would say, ‘Hand me a nail” because he doesn’t care which nail in the box he uses. Usually the bigger problem is not whether to use a definite or indefinite article, but whether to use an article at all.

So many choices! When do you use a? When do you use an? When do you use the? But relax. We’ll guide the way. We already talked about when to use a when to use an in the article Give me an “A”: a vs. an, but we’ll give you a few more examples here.

• A: you use this when you’re not necessarily referring to a specific thing (such as a nail, any nail). It’s called an indefinite article, because you’re not being definite or particular. There are many nails in this big world.
  • She owns a cat.
  • I work on a golf course.
• An: it’s used just like a, but when preceding a vowel sound. It probably comes from Old German, on which Old English was based. My theory is that the use of an survives after all these centuries because it sounds better before vowels. Saying, “I want a apple” sounds odd, compared to, “I want an apple.” For the same reason, the fake French sentence, “À Anne, on en a un,” sounds even more odd.
  • May I borrow an egg?
  • He is an arrogant critic.
• The: you’re talking about a definite item, which is why the is called a definite article. Of course it only makes sense if both you and your listeners know which item you mean. If I commanded you, “Give me the money,” you would rightfully ask, “What money? I don’t owe you any money.”
  • The house on that corner once belonged to Charles Dickens.
  • The weather is very pleasant today.
• You can use the the second time you refer to something, even if you used an the first time. We know what you’re referring to, because you just told us. You can do this, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Read these examples – repeating the noun might sound monotonous.
  • We visited a palace on our vacation. The palace was built in 1546.
  • We also went to a concert. The concert was too loud for me.
• When it comes to geography, you don’t use the before the names of most nations, provinces, states,lakes or islands. But there are many exceptions: the United States, the Ukraine, or the Congo. On the other hand, the Ukrainians and Congolese people I’ve met say, “Ukraine” and “Congo,” so go figure. If the name refers to plural items, such as the United States, or the Maldives, you would use the definite article. You would do the same for rivers and oceans, such as the Amazon, the Nile, and the Caspian Sea. Bays need the definite article.
  • He moved to Nepal near Mount Everest.
  • They spent their honeymoon in eastern Maine, on Penobscot Bay.
• Unlike some languages such as French and Spanish, English sometimes does not use any article at all. You don’t need one when making a general statement, or when talking about meals and transportation.
  • I prefer folk music.
  • She hates making noodles.
  • She eats breakfast at home.
  • She traveled to college by train.
• British writers don’t use an article for some places that Americans would.
  • British: I go to university.
  • American: I go to college.
  • American: I transfered to the university last year.
  • British: I felt so ill that I went to hospital.
  • American: I got so sick I had to go to the hospital.

Some rules apply all the time. Some rules apply only in certain situations, and only experience and reading can help you get them all right. And some rules apply only in certain situations in certain cultures: British and American English is sometimes different, as you may have learned by now.

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/definitely-use-the-or-a/

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How to Write a Book Outline: Fiction and Nonfiction

You learned how to write outlines in school, I suppose. You were probably required to do it a certain way:

I. Roman numerals for the main points
A. capital letters for the sub-points
1. Regular Arabic numerals for the sub-sub-points
a. lower-case letters for all the sub-points below that
We could call it the Roman-Arabic outline, though experts call it the alphanumeric outline.

But when you outline your book, you don’t have to do it that way. Not if it seems burdensome to you, or even boring. It’s your book, after all.

The main reason why you write an outline first is simple: Because you can’t keep the whole book in your head at one time. It’s your passion for your subject that drives your writing. You don’t need notes to talk about something you’re passionate about. But a book is so long that it’s hard to remember everything you’re passionate about and in what order you want to talk about it. You make notes for yourself only so you don’t forget something important.

Tools like Scrivener let you prepare your book section-by-section, similar to keeping each chapter in a separate file folder in your desk. That helps you build your case logically. You’ll also benefit when you present your ideas in front of an audience. Why? Because you can learn from their questions while you can still make changes. Imagine yourself giving a presentation or a lecture about your book: what would you say? That becomes your outline.

Easy outlines

I learned the alphanumeric outline system in elementary school, but when I had to write long research papers in college, I stopped using it. Instead, I shuffled through my notes to remind myself of the interesting things I had learned, or at least the parts that my reader would need to know in order to understand the main point. Then I would make a list of what I wanted to talk about. I would usually write a word or two for each topic:

1. Origins
2. Competition
3. Alston controversy
4. Gallatin
5. Chemist influences
6. Popularization

This brief outline only needed to make sense to me. It was the resulting paper that needed to make sense to my professor. At this early stage, I would add and rearrange these subtopics until I thought my list was complete and clear. Then I would rearrange my notes in order of the outline. As I wrote the paper, when I got to “Gallatin,” I would read over my Gallatin notes and then type what I had to say about that topic. Each topic was now small enough that I could hold the whole thing at once in my mind and memory.

I use the same topical outline system for my novels. But instead of a list of sub-topics, I make a list of scenes. For each one, I write down just enough to prompt my memory.

Aw, do I have to write an outline first?

Writers, even successful writers, are divided into two fairly equal groups: outliners and non-outliners, or plotters and pantsers. When plotters write, they work out their plots in advance, in great detail. (Even non-fiction books have a flow, if not a plot.) When pantsers write, they fly by the seat of their pants, without making outlines first. Pantsers are also called “discovery writers.” In their defense, pantsers claim that novelists never know what will happen next until they write it down, so why bother outlining first? Plotters claim that’s why pantsers often need to do a lot of rewriting, which could have been saved if they had been plotters.

Both plotters and pantsers have a point. Having written an outline doesn’t mean plotters can’t change their minds later if they want to. On the other hand, pantsers like to remind their critics that having written an outline doesn’t mean you won’t change your mind later, much as you don’t want to and didn’t intend to. Most writers expect they will revise the early part of their book, adding foreshadowing or explanation to support something that popped up while they were writing the later part.

From chaos to order

Whether you do it before or after, you will have to practice the inverse of the rule called “Chekhov’s gun:” if a pistol will be fired in the second act, it should be hanging on the wall in the first act. When your alpha readers complain that no gun was hanging there in the first draft, you will need to add it in the second draft. If you’re a non-fiction writers, you should seek out that kind of demanding alpha reader too. It’s cheaper and less embarrassing to have your mistakes pointed out before you go to press.

So you should expect changes no matter how you prepare to write. On the other hand, a book is long and complex, and if you don’t organize it before you write it, you will have to organize it later. Mystery writer Agatha Christie seems to have spent most of her time planning and plotting. Even so, she said: “Nothing turns out quite in the way you thought it would when you are sketching out notes for the first chapter, or walking about muttering to yourself and seeing a story unroll.” On the other hand, Stephen King sniffs that he can always tell if a book was written from an outline.

One way to maintain your book’s freshness and outwit Stephen King: when you outline, stay on the outline level. Don’t start daydreaming about the details of your book when you should be outlining. Some writers say that when an idea comes out of your head once, it may not want to come out again. It may be fresher the first time, so leave it vague until you are ready to give it a proper introduction to the world. And as you get deeper into the details (or the weeds), you will reach the point where you have more thoughts than you can juggle at once – just the situation that outlining is designed to avoid.

How to outline intuitively

You can’t get around it: your book needs some order, whether you organize it before you write the first draft or after. Even a known pantser such as Jerry Jenkins, who wrote 190 books without an outline, says, “Don’t go to the keyboard with nothing to say.”

One reason Jerry Jenkins gets away with not outlining is that he has a natural sense of story structure. He says he got that from being raised on TV. He doesn’t need to be reminded that a book needs a beginning, middle, and end. He doesn’t need a checklist to remind him to include conflict in the plot. In other words, the mind of Jerry Jenkins produces books that appear naturally organized, even if he doesn’t write outlines first. If anything, his outlines looks something like this one, based on suggestions by Dean Koontz:

1. Our hero quickly gets into trouble.
2. The harder he tries to get out of it, the worse it gets.
3. It really starts to look hopeless.
4. But in the nick of time, he takes what he’s learned and finds what he needs to turns all this trouble into triumph.

Two approaches to outlining

As a writer, you need two kinds of outlines: what you want to do and and what you need to do. I’ve talked about making a list for myself so that I don’t forget what I want to say. This kind of outline resembles a set of writing prompts. I’m telling myself what to do. But, dare I say, there are times where you should let other people tell you what to do. That is, wise mentors will tell you that certain essential features must appear in every readable book, such as an engaging introduction and a satisfying conclusion. Schoolchildren are taught to support each assertion they make. Storytellers know that rising conflict and final crisis will keep their readers spellbound more than a string of vaguely-related anecdotes. Books on writing often include an outline or checklist that helps you remember not to leave out these essential features.

For a nonfiction book, you should plan:

• Thesis statement – the whole point of the book
• Chapter thesis – the points you want to make in each chapter
• Supporting material – to make each point more understandable or convincing
• Illustrations – to make your points stick in the mind of your reader. Stories have a way of doing that.

For a narrative or novel, you should think about:

• Plots and subplots – Do you have enough to keep things interesting?
• Main character – Why should your readers care about your protagonist?
• Status Quo – What is the world like at the beginning of your story? What is going to change?
• Motivation – What do your characters to want? Why?
• Inciting Incident – What knocks the status quo off balance, irrecoverably? What sets the story into motion?
• Developments – Does your story have a direction? Are your characters changing?
• Crisis – What forces your characters to finally take irrevocable action?
• Resolution – How does your story end? Have you tied up all the loose strings?

The Snowflake Method

One of the most popular and complete techniques to plan your book, the Snowflake Method, was developed by Dr. Randy Ingermanson. He has a background in software development, and it shows. Programmers need to be ready to change direction or fix bugs. But large software projects, on the scale of the creation of Gmail or Microsoft Office, are not written by the seat of anyone’s pants. A company doesn’t spend a year developing a national government job search application, only to find that it won’t connect to the national job database. That would be a major “plot hole.” By planning and outlining in advance, there will be fewer surprises. You can see whether the project (or book) is feasible (or enjoyable) before you invest too much into it.

With the Snowflake Method, your book starts with one sentence, which expands to a paragraph, that summarizes the whole book. Each sentence in the paragraph expands to another paragraph, giving you a one-page summary of your book. You can use that in your book proposal that you send to a publisher or potential agent. Then expand each paragraph into a page. Continue expanding until your first draft is complete.

By the way, the initial summary paragraph is not the same as the blurb that appears on the back cover. To induce readers to buy the book after they pick it up, the blurb doesn’t summarize the whole book. Dr. Ingermanson says, “I like to structure a story as ‘three disasters plus an ending.'” His summary page would include them all, while a blurb stops after a disaster or two and doesn’t give away the ending.

More types of outlines

We talked about the alphanumeric outline, the list outline, and the snowflake method. But there are other approaches to outlining.

• For some books, you may want to create a timeline first. You may want to create several: one for each major character or simultaneous trend in your book. List your events chronologically, from earliest to latest, first to last. Make sure there’s room to fit everything in properly. If a daughter listened to early-’90s music as a teenager, her mother couldn’t have listened to late-’80s music at the same age. If your story includes feasting, it also needs to include time for digesting.
• A mindmap comes naturally for some people. Take a blank sheet of paper, or open up a new file in your mind mapping software program. In the center, write down a topic, event, or character – start with anything that comes to your mind. When that idea prompts another idea, draw a line out from the first word to the second word. Keep adding more words and connecting lines between them. You can go in any direction. Your page will start to resemble a spider.
• In the headlights method, you plan out just a few pages ahead, or plan a chapter at a time. Plan it, then write it. E.L. Doctorow said, “Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way.” Such a method combines the pantser and plotter strategies to some extent. You have freedom but not chaos.

It’s up to you how much outlining you do. But you may find it helps you. Advance planning can make you more calm and less nervous. It helps you not to leave out important parts. An outline lets you decide what each section will be about, so you don’t have to eat it all in one gulp. Still, outlining can be taken too far. William Faulkner wrote an outline for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Fable on his office wall. Doing so did not impress his wife.

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-write-book-outline/

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8 Great Essay Writing Tips for Students

Whether you enjoy writing or not, there’s probably a fair amount of it that you have to do as a student. I don’t think essays are anyone’s favourite thing to write (and I say that as a former English Literature student!) … but by honing your writing process, you can get them over and done with quickly and – hopefully – well.

I was an undergraduate student in the back in 2003-06 and back then, the most sophisticated tool I had to help with my writing was Microsoft Word 2003’s spellchecker! Today, there are loads of useful tools you can use – and I covered some of those in my post 10 Online Tools to Help You Write the Perfect Essay.

No tool can offer to write your essay for you, though (and if it does, I’d be very dubious about using it). So in this post, we’ll be looking at some key tips for getting your essays written as smoothly and painlessly as possible.

Tip #1: Don’t Start Writing Without a Plan

I know it can be tempting to just dive into an essay, especially if you’re short on time. With anything you write, though, you’ll find it much easier if you plan ahead – and I think this is especially true for essays, which generally need a strong structure that supports you in making a particular argument.

Depending on the length of your essay and how much you like to plan ahead, your plan might be a short list of bullet points and some ideas about key sources to reference – or it might be a detailed paragraph by paragraph outline. But you should definitely have some sort of plan in mind, or you risk going off on a huge tangent that doesn’t really relate to your essay question.

Tip #2: Don’t Leave Your Writing Until the Last Minute

Okay, I know it’s sometimes unavoidable – but very few people do their best work while staying up all night frantically trying to finish an essay that’s due imminently (or worse, overdue). It’s much better for your writing – and your health – to work consistently on an essay well ahead of the deadline.

One great way to do this is to break down your essay writing process into different stages (which will probably correspond to these stages of the writing process). For instance, if you have a short essay due Friday, you might come up with ideas and useful references for your essay question on a Monday, write a detailed plan on a Tuesday, and start drafting on a Wednesday … instead of leaving everything to the end of the week.

Tip #3: Know Your Best Time of Day to Write

All of us have times of day when we find it easy to focus – and times when we really struggle.I’ve known since my schooldays that I’m a morning person: I’m at my best between about 7am and 12 noon, and my focus dips dramatically around 4pm.

You might be totally different – perhaps you can concentrate really well between, say, 7pm and midnight – but what matters here is knowing yourself. Figure out your best hours for writing and try to use them where possible.

Tip #4: Ask for Sample Essays or Projects to Look At

Whatever you’re studying, if you have to produce essays or projects that are assessed, there will almost certainly be (a) a mark scheme and (b) examples of previous students’ work. Ask your professors about these. Take a really close look at past work, and at the mark it got: see if you can figure out why – and what you could do to improve your own work.

If you’ve got connections to students who’ve taken your course in the past, you might also ask them if they’d be willing to share any of their old essays. (Be really careful here that you don’t end up accidentally using any of their ideas or phrasings as your own – that’s plagiarism and it’s a serious academic offence. So if you take notes based on their essays, label those very clearly so you don’t later think that they’re part of your own work.)

Tip #5: Know How to Present Your Work Correctly

The rules about formatting essays – particularly things like footnotes and bibliographies – can seem rather arcane and confusing. But it’s important to get these little details right. If you’re unsure, again, ask for examples or take a look at whatever style guide your university uses.

One area where students sometimes struggle is in the presentation of quotes from sources. Depending on length, these can either be presented as “blockquotes” – in their own paragraph, indented from the main text – or as “inline” quotes that are incorporated into a paragraph. Again, ask for examples or consult the appropriate style guide for your institution.

Tip #6: Look Up a List of Commonly Misused Words

Some words are very easily confused with one another, or used incorrectly. It’s worth checking through the words and phrases that people commonly get wrong just to be sure you’re not making any mistakes.

We have a category dedicated to such mistakes.

Tip #7: Edit Your Essays On Paper Where Possible

Hopefully, you’re already editing your essays before handing them in – if not, definitely make that into a habit. Don’t just look out for typos and spelling mistakes: think about areas where you haven’t made your thinking clear, or where you haven’t backed up a statement with a reference or fact.

While there are lots of tools you can use to make editing on the screen easier, I don’t think anything can replace a careful read-through on paper – especially if you’re handing in something that’s going to make up a large part of your final mark.

#8: Share Your Essay-in-Progress With Fellow Students

Can you get together with one or two other people on your course and swap your draft essays? Often, someone else’s feedback can really help you to clarify your own thinking – and they may spot potential problems that you’d have missed, or areas where you could go further.

Even if you don’t want to give one another substantial feedback, you could still swap essays for light editing / proofreading purposes: it’s surprising how someone else’s mistakes can leap out at you, whereas your own tend not to be obvious (because you know what you think you wrote…)

Whether writing’s something you enjoy, or a necessary evil, I hope these tips help you to write great essays without spending a huge amount of time on them. If you have an essay-writing tip of your own to share, feel free to leave it below in the comments.

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/essay-writing-tips-for-students/

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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 – such as when separating items in a list – but there are other times when you might be unsure whether or not a comma is needed.

While there’s some degree of flexibility in how commas are used, it’s important to have a clear grasp of the rules.

Seven Places Where You SHOULD Use Commas

Rule #1: Use Commas to Separate Items in a List

This probably the first use of commas you learned in school: separating items in a list of three or more things.

Here’s an example:

The cake mix requires flour, sugar, eggs, and butter.

Note that some style guides would not add the comma after the word “eggs”. For more on this, see Rule #8.

Rule #2: Use a Comma After an Introductory Word or Phrase

When a word or phrase forms an introduction to a sentence, you should follow it with a comma, as recommended by Purdue OWL.

Here are some examples:

However, she didn’t love him back.

On the other hand, it might be best to wait until next week.

Rule #3: Use a Comma Before a Quotation

You should always put a comma immediately before a quotation:

He said, “It’s warm today.”

John Smith told us, “You can’t come in after ten o’clock.”

Rule #4: Use a Comma to Separate a Dependent Clause That Comes BEFORE the Independent Clause

A dependent clause, or subordinate clause, is one that can’t stand alone as a whole sentence. It should be separated from the independent clause that follows it using a comma:

If you can’t make it, please call me.

After the race, John was exhausted.

However, it’s normally not necessary to use a comma if the independent clause comes first:

Please call me if you can’t make it.

John was exhausted after the race.

For more on this, plus an example of an instance where a comma is required after the independent clause, take a look at Subordinate Clauses and Commas.

Rule #5: Use a Comma to Join Two Long Independent Clauses

Normally, you should put a comma between two complete sentences that are joined with a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet) that creates a single sentence with two independent clauses:

Sue didn’t know whether she had enough money in her account to pay for the groceries, so she went to an ATM to check her balance.

John was determined to get the unicorn slime his daughter wanted, but all the shops had sold out.

You don’t need a comma if both the independent clauses are relatively short and similar in meaning:

Sue went to the shops and John went home.

Rule #6: Use Commas to Set Off an Nonessential Element within a Sentence

Sometimes, you might want to include extra information within a sentence that isn’t essential to its meaning. You should set this information off using a comma before and a comma after it:

John went for a jog, which took half an hour,before having a long hot shower.

Writing a book, if I haven’t put you off already, is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

The sections in bold could be removed from the sentences completely and it would still make perfectly good sense. You could also use dashes in this context:

John went for a jog – which took half an hour –before having a long hot shower.

Dashes are useful if you want to imply a longer pause, or draw more attention to the nonessential element of the sentence. They’re also useful if you have several other commas in the sentence, to help avoid confusion.

Rule #7: Use Commas to Separate Coordinate Adjectives

When you’re describing something with two or more adjectives, you can use a comma between them if those adjectives are coordinating. (They’re coordinating if you could place “and” between them.) You shouldn’t put a comma after the final adjective.

For example:

He’s a cheerful, kind boy.

A comma is used here, because it would also make sense to say, “He’s a cheerful and kind boy”.

There’s a blue bath towel on your bed.

Here, “bath” is acting as an adjective to modify “towel”, but it’s not coordinate with “blue”. It wouldn’t make sense to say, “There’s a blue and bath towel,” so no comma is used.

For more on coordinate and non-coordinate adjectives, check out this post.

One Place When You CAN Use a Comma

While commas are normally either required or not required, there’s one key instance when you can choose whether or not to use a comma – and either option is equally correct.

Rule #8: If You Use a Serial Comma, Use it Consistently

A list of items can be punctuated like this:

We need bread, milk, cheese, and eggs.

Or like this:

We need bread, milk, cheese and eggs.

In the first case, the “serial comma” or “Oxford comma” is used after the penultimate item in the list. In the second case, that comma is omitted.

Some writers have very strong feelings for and against the serial comma. In general, it’s more commonly used in American English than in British English, but you’ll find that opinions vary on both sides of the Atlantic.

Ultimately, it’s up to you (and your editor!) whether or not you use it. The only rule here is to be consistent throughout your piece of writing.

Two Places Where You Shouldn’t Use Commas

Sometimes, writers end up inserting unnecessary commas or using commas incorrectly. Here are two common issues to watch out for in your writing.

Rule #9: Don’t Use a Comma Between Two Independent Clauses (Without a Conjuction)

If you have two independent clauses, you can’t just use a comma to join them. You can use a semi-colon, or you can use a conjunction plus a comma.

Incorrect: There were no clouds in the sky, I went for a jog.

Correct: There were no clouds in the sky; I went for a jog.

Correct: There were no clouds in the sky, so I went for a jog.

The incorrect version is called a “comma splice”.

Rule #10: Don’t Separate a Compound Subject or Compound Object With Commas

If you have a compound subject or a compound object in a sentence that consists of two nouns, you shouldn’t separate the parts of it using commas.

For instance:

Incorrect: The rain poured down on John, and Sue.

Correct: The rain poured down on John and Sue.

Incorrect: The rain, and the wind battered the house.

Correct: The rain and the wind battered the house.

I hope this helps you make more sense of commas. They’re a tricky punctuation mark because they’re used in so many different contexts. Many writers do struggle with them, so don’t feel bad if you find them hard to get to grips with.

If you’re finding commas particularly tricky, though, you might want to use an app like ProWritingAid (reviewed here) to help check your writing. As well as helping you ensure your writing is correct, this will make you more aware of when you’re not using commas correctly.

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/when-to-use-a-comma-rules-examples/

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Understanding “Either … Or” and “Neither … Nor”

If you’re presenting two alternatives, you’ll often use an “either … or” or a “neither … nor” construction. Here’s how those work:

You can choose either cereal or toast for your breakfast.

My friend’s car is neither green nor brown.

Either is used in the affirmative sense, when you’re presenting possibilities that are both true or valid.

Neither is used in the negative sense, when you’re presenting things that aren’t true or valid.

So far, so straightforward – but you might have some questions about using “either … or” and “neither … nor” correctly.

What About “Neither … Or”?

You may well have come across sentences like these:

I’m neither angry or upset.

This isn’t grammatically correct. The sentence should be rewritten as I’m neither angry nor upset.

However, using “neither … nor” can sound unduly formal or even a little archaic. If you want to avoid that, consider rewriting the sentence (e.g. “I’m not angry and I’m not upset.”)

Can You Use “Either … Or ” and “Neither … Nor” With More That Two Items?

You might wonder whether sentences like these are permissible:

She will have to choose either Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

There is neither bread, milk, nor jam.

Grammarians differ on this point, but there’s a long history of both “either … or” and “neither … nor” being used for three or more items. If you’re writing for a particularly formal publication, though, you might want to stick to just two items when you’re using “either … or” or “neither … nor”.

Some Additional Rules for “Either … Or”  and “Neither … Nor”

It can be tricky to figure out verb agreement when you’re using these constructions. Here’s what you need to know:

Use a Singular Verb if Both Elements Are Singular

If the alternatives presented are both singular, then use a singular verb, like this:

Either James or Mary has hidden the sweets.

Neither the van nor the car is fast enough.

Use a Plural Verb if One (or Both) Elements Are Plural

If one or both of the alternatives are plural, use a plural verb:

Either the boys or the girls have hidden the sweets.

Neither the van nor the cars are fast enough.

Omit “Either” But Not “Neither”

It often makes sense to have a sentence without the word “either”, such as:

James or Mary has hidden the sweets.

The boys or the girls have hidden the sweets.

However, you can’t omit “neither” from a sentence – the “nor” can’t stand on its own.

Here are some quick rules of thumb to remember about “either … or” and “neither … nor”:

• The word either should never be paired with
• The word neither should never be paired with
• You can only use nor in a sentence if there’s a neither (Some people say that “not … nor” is also a valid construction, but it’s safer to stick with “neither”).

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/understanding-either-or-and-neither-nor/

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5 Wordy Sentences Examples and Corrections

The careful writer always reviews their prose, and one of the qualities they aspire to demonstrate is conciseness, or brevity of expression. Revision of the following wordy sentences, accompanied by commentary about the revision, provides specific examples of the types of verbosities to eliminate.

1. There are seventy-seven industry-specific codified standards, launched in November 2018 at the London Stock Exchange, that are available on the agency’s website. The seventy-seven industries are arrayed among eleven sectors.

One of the most obvious opportunities to render prose more concise is when information is repeated, sometimes verbatim. Here, the number of industries, each with a specific standard, is referred to twice; in the second sentence, only the number of sectors is new information, and that can be integrated into the slightly revised first sentence as a parenthetical: “Seventy-seven industry-specific codified standards, arrayed among industries in eleven sectors, were launched in November 2018 at the London Stock Exchange and are available on the agency’s website.”

2. If the company and/or its workforce resists change, it will only hamper the company’s growth and success, the result of which will likely be other changes such as restructuring and layoffs.

Here, the momentum of the sentence is halted by the insertion of a pronoun whose antecedent is not immediately apparent. Hidden within the subordinate clause that includes the sentence’s supposed subject, the actual focus of the sentence is relegated to a verb phrase. To reduce the length of the sentence, convert that phrase to a noun phrase, replace the pronoun with the jettisoned subject, and further revise the sentence to make it even more concise: “Resistance to change will only hamper the company’s growth and success, likely resulting in other changes such as restructuring and layoffs.”

3. This is a first-of-its-kind study and has produced a wealth of valuable data about cybersecurity.

This sentence includes two facts that are related—they both pertain to the study—but not relevant to each other. The first fact, that the study is the first of its kind, can remain embedded as a phrasal adjective, but the noun it modifies should replace the weak pronoun this as the subject (although thisremains as a modifier for study), rendering the conjunction is and the conjunction andsuperfluous: “This first-of-its-kind study has produced a wealth of valuable data about cybersecurity.”

4. The possibility of allowing users to self-declare to designated authorities on a voluntary basis is still being considered.

The reference to the possibility of enacting a policy is nearly redundant to the phrase indicating that the policy is being considered, so the sentence can be condensed somewhat by beginning with allowing: “Allowing users to voluntarily self-declare to designated authorities is still being considered.”

Better yet, however, revise the sentence to make it more active in construction. Assuming the identity of the entity considering the policy is known, the following revision is slightly longer than the first effort at amendment but more direct: “The agency is still considering allowing users to voluntarily self-declare to designated authorities.”

5. The practitioner should obtain the patient’s written permission before forwarding health records that contain information of a sensitive nature.

Be alert to the phrase construction “of a . . . nature,” which is easily replaced by one word by relocating the adjective that completes the phrase to immediately before the preceding noun and deleting the rest of the phrase: “The practitioner should obtain the patient’s written permission before forwarding health records that contain sensitive information.”

The phrase “in a . . . manner” is also verbose. However, it is revised differently because it modifies a verb, not a noun, as in “She drove in a reckless manner,” where the adjective reckless is converted to the adverb recklessly before being inserted after drove: “She drove recklessly.” (This is also true of “on a . . . basis.”) Also, this phrase with timely is a special case because, although the word technically functions as both an adjective and an adverb, it is seldom used in the latter role as a more concise version of “in a timely manner,” as in “The letter was delivered timely.” However, synonyms such as promptly, swiftly, and quicklyare available as substitutes.

Of the five sentences above, the last is perhaps the most egregiously verbose; “of a . . . nature” and similar constructions are symptomatic of a writer’s misguided efforts to create a formal, authoritative tone, which instead often obscures rather than clarifies. Active, direct, vivid, and concise written expression is effective written expression.

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/wordy-sentences/

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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 that subjects and verbs must agree with each other in number.

If that sounds a bit complicated or mathematical, here are a couple of very simple examples to show this in action:

• The child plays at the park. (Singular)
• The children play at the park. (Plural)

A singular noun needs a singular verb; a plural noun needs a plural verb.

If you’re a native English speaker, you probably never think about this when you’re writing, but you know the rule, all the same.

For instance, if I showed you these sentences, you’d know instantly that they were wrong – and you’d know how to correct them:

• The child play at the park.
• The children plays at the park.

In these sentences, it’s very clear how to make the subject and verb “agree” – so that they match grammatically.

Sometimes, though, subject-verb agreement isn’t quite so straightforward, and it can trip up even native, fluent English writers.

Here are six key rules to be aware of:

Rule #1: A Clause Between the Subject and Verb Will Not Change the Verb

Let’s say we had a sentence like this:

• The child with no friends plays at the park.

“The child” is still the subject of the sentence, and “plays” is still the verb. Although the clause “with no friends” has the plural noun “friends,” this does notchange the verb – because the verb still applies to “child”.

Tip: If you’re struggling with this, read the sentence aloud without the clause between the subject and the verb, and see if it still makes sense.

Rule #2: Use a Plural Verb if Two Singular Subjects are Joined with “And”

Let’s say you have a sentence like this:

• Max and Susan play at the park.

That sentence is correct. Although “Max” is singular and “Susan” is singular, they’re joined with “and” – making them a compound subject, which is plural.

Rule #3: Inverted Subjects Must Still Agree With the Verb

In English, the normal sentence order is subject – verb – object. Sometimes this is inverted, though, with the verb coming before the subject … and it’s still important that the verb still agrees with the inverted subject.

Here’s an example:

• There is a child on the swings. (Child is singular.)
• There are five children at the park.(Children is plural.)

And here’s another:

• What was Jane telling you? (“Jane” is singular.)
• What were Jane and Susan telling you? (“Jane and Susan” is plural.)

Again, when you’re speaking or writing, you probably don’t have to think about this too hard. If English is your second language, though, or if you’re writing particularly complex sentences, it’s helpful to keep subject-verb agreement in mind.

Rule #4: If Two Or More Subjects Are Joined With “Or”, Use the Closest to the Verb for Agreement

Let’s say you have a sentence like this:

• Either Jack or the children are too loud.

Is “are” the correct verb to use here, even though Jack is singular? Yes, it is, because the closest subject to the verb is “the children”.

Let’s rewrite the sentence:

• Either the children or Jack is too loud.

Here, “is” is correct, because “Jack” is the closest subject to the verb.

In both of these cases, you may feel the sentence reads slightly awkwardly. If so, you might want to rewrite or reconsider the sentence so that the verb can agree with both subjects:

• Either Jack or one of the children is too loud.

Rule #5: Indefinite Pronouns Normally Take Singular Verbs

Most indefinite pronouns, like “everyone” and “nobody”, take singular verbs. For instance:

• Everyone loves chocolate.
• Nobody wants to die young.

Some indefinite pronouns, though, always take the plural form. These include few, many, several, both, all, and some, when used as pronouns.

For instance:

• All were impressed by what they saw.

Rule #6: Collective Nouns Can be Singular OR Plural

Collective nouns, like “committee” and “audience”, can be singular or plural depending on the context. In writing your sentence, you’ll need to consider whether the group in question is acting as a unit or as a set of individuals.

Here are some examples:

• The committee asks new members to sign Form A1. (Singular subject and verb.)
• The committee were unable to reach a unanimous decision. (Plural subject and verb.)

Some writers prefer to make collective nouns plural by adding extra words, such as “Members of”:

• Members of the committee were unableto reach a unanimous decision.

Look Out For Subject-Verb Agreement When Editing

Even though you may feel that subject-verb agreement comes naturally to you, a key time to watch out for it is during the editing phase of your writing. It’s all too easy to edit half a sentence, perhaps to change a singular subject to a plural one, only to leave the second half unaltered … and hence incorrect.

Here’s an example of where rewriting part of a sentence necessitates changing several different verbs later on in the sentence:

When a writer is stuck, he stares out of the window, rearranges the pencils on his desk, and in short, does anything to avoid writing.

If you wanted to make that sentence more gender inclusive, without using the singular they (which some writers prefer to avoid), you might recast it as:

When writers are stuck, they stare out of the window, rearrange the pencils on their desks, and in short, do anything to avoid writing.

It’s important to make sure you check all the verbs in a long or complex sentence to ensure they all still agree with the subject.

If at any point you find you’re unsure whether your sentence is correct, try reading it aloud: this will often highlight mistakes that are harder to spot on the page. If that doesn’t work for you, consider rewriting the sentence to simplify it – or pop a comment below to see if anyone else can help!

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/subject-verb-agreement-rules/

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Oscar Nominations 2020: The Complete List

Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” a comic-book origin story about Batman’s biggest foe, scored a leading 11 Oscar nominations on Monday, including best picture, best director for Phillips and best actor for Joaquin Phoenix.

Martin Scorsese’s mob epic “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s ode to Los Angeles “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and Sam Mendes’ war drama “1917” followed close behind with 10 nods a piece. Those films, along with “Ford v Ferrari,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Little Women,” “Marriage Story” and “Parasite” will compete for best picture.

Female filmmakers were entirely shut out of the best director race. Along with Phillips, the nominees include Scorsese for “The Irishman,” Mendes for “1917,” Tarantino for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and Bong Joon Ho for “Parasite.”

The Academy Awards will air live Feb. 9 on ABC.

Here is the full list of 2020 Oscar nominations:

Best Picture:

“Ford v Ferrari”

“The Irishman”

“Jojo Rabbit”

“Joker”

“Little Women”

“Marriage Story”

“1917”

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

“Parasite”

Lead Actor:

Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”

Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”

Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”

Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”

Lead Actress:

Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”

Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”

Saoirse Ronan, “Little Women”

Charlize Theron, “Bombshell”

Renee Zellweger, “Judy”

Supporting Actor:

Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

Anthony Hopkins, “The Two Popes”

Al Pacino, “The Irishman”

Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”

Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Supporting Actress:

Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”

Laura Dern, “Marriage Story”

Scarlett Johansson, “Jojo Rabbit”

Florence Pugh, “Little Women”

Margot Robbie, “Bombshell”

Director:

Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”

Todd Phillips, “Joker”

Sam Mendes, “1917”

Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite”

Animated Feature:

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” Dean DeBlois

“I Lost My Body,” Jeremy Clapin

“Klaus,” Sergio Pablos

“Missing Link,” Chris Butler

“Toy Story 4,”  Josh Cooley

Animated Short:

“Dcera,” Daria Kashcheeva

“Hair Love,” Matthew A. Cherry

“Kitbull,” Rosana Sullivan

“Memorable,” Bruno Collet

“Sister,” Siqi Song

Adapted Screenplay:

“The Irishman,” Steven Zaillian

“Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi

“Joker,” Todd Phillips, Scott Silver

“Little Women,” Greta Gerwig

“The Two Popes,” Anthony McCarten

Original Screenplay:

“Knives Out,” Rian Johnson

“Marriage Story,” Noah Baumbach

“1917,” Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino

“Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho, Jin Won Han

Cinematography:

“The Irishman,” Rodrigo Prieto

“Joker,” Lawrence Sher

“The Lighthouse,” Jarin Blaschke

“1917,” Roger Deakins

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Robert Richardson

Best Documentary Feature:

“American Factory,” Julia Rieichert, Steven Bognar

“The Cave,” Feras Fayyad

“The Edge of Democracy,” Petra Costa

“For Sama,” Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts

“Honeyland,” Tamara Kotevska, Ljubo Stefanov

Best Documentary Short Subject:

“In the Absence,” Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam

“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone,” Carol Dysinger

“Life Overtakes Me,” Kristine Samuelson and John Haptas

“St. Louis Superman,” Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan

“Walk Run Cha-Cha,” Laura Nix

Best Live Action Short Film:

“Brotherhood,” Meryam Joobeur

“Nefta Football Club,” Yves Piat

“The Neighbors’ Window,” Marshall Curry

“Saria,” Bryan Buckley

“A Sister,” Delphine Girard

Best International Feature Film:

“Corpus Christi,” Jan Komasa

“Honeyland,” Tamara Kotevska, Ljubo Stefanov

“Les Miserables,” Ladj Ly

“Pain and Glory,” Pedro Almodovar

“Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho

Film Editing:

“Ford v Ferrari,” Michael McCusker, Andrew Buckland

“The Irishman,” Thelma Schoonmaker

“Jojo Rabbit,” Tom Eagles

“Joker,” Jeff Groth

“Parasite,” Jinmo Yang

Sound Editing:

“Ford v Ferrari,” Don Sylvester

“Joker,” Alan Robert Murray

“1917,” Oliver Tarney, Rachel Tate

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Wylie Stateman

“Star Wars: The Rise of SkyWalker,” Matthew Wood, David Acord

Sound Mixing:

“Ad Astra”

“Ford v Ferrari”

“Joker”

“1917”

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Production Design:

“The Irishman,” Bob Shaw and Regina Graves

“Jojo Rabbit,” Ra Vincent and Nora Sopkova

“1917,” Dennis Gassner and Lee Sandales

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh

“Parasite,” Lee Ha-Jun and Cho Won Woo, Han Ga Ram, and Cho Hee

Original Score:

“Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir

“Little Women,” Alexandre Desplat

“Marriage Story,” Randy Newman

“1917,” Thomas Newman

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams

Original Song:

“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” “Toy Story 4”

“I’m Gonna Love Me Again,” “Rocketman”

“I’m Standing With You,” “Breakthrough”

“Into the Unknown,” “Frozen 2”

“Stand Up,” “Harriet”

Makeup and Hair:

“Bombshell”

“Joker”

“Judy”

“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”

“1917”

Costume Design:

”The Irishman,” Sandy Powell, Christopher Peterson

“Jojo Rabbit,” Mayes C. Rubeo

“Joker,” Mark Bridges

“Little Women,” Jacqueline Durran

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Arianne Phillips

Visual Effects:

“Avengers Endgame”

“The Irishman”

“1917”

“The Lion King”

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

Sumber: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/2020-oscar-nominations-list-academy-awards-nominees-1203461985/

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The 14 English Punctuation Marks With Examples

Do you know how to use punctuation marks correctly in English? While some might seem straightforward, you may come across punctuation marks that you’re unsure about … so this post is designed to serve as a handy reference. 

You’ll find “further reading” suggestions for each punctuation mark, if you want to explore it in more detail.

Note: We’re going to focus on American English punctuation, but when there’s a difference in British English usage, I’ll explain that too.

Punctuation Marks That End Sentences

#1: Period

This is the first punctuation mark that children learn: the period (or, if you’re British, “full stop”) at the end of a sentence.

Sarah ran to school.

It’s also used after (and sometimes in) many abbreviations:

Mrs. Jones waved to Sarah.

Some employees, e.g. receptionists, need to work set hours.

Note, however, that British English normally omits the period after Mr, Mrs,  and Ms. 

Further Reading:

One or Two Spaces After a Period?

Simple sentences, period.

Punctuation Review #2: Honorifics

#2: Question Mark

If a sentence poses a direct question, it should end with a question mark.

Did you remember to buy milk?

How much do I owe you?

Is this the right way to the park?

Further Reading:

The Question Mark

When Is a Question Not a Question?

#3: Exclamation Point

The exclamation point (or “exclamation mark” in British English) is used to add emphasis or to indicate that words are being spoken in excitement, surprise, or alarm.

I just heard the news – congratulations!

“Oh no!” She stared at the mess in dismay. 

Exclamation points are not normally appropriate in formal writing, such as academic essays or business reports. You should only use one exclamation point unless you’re writing something very informal (such as a text message to a friend).

Further Reading:

Multiple Points of Exclamation!!

A Guide to Terminal Punctuation 

Punctuation Marks Within Sentences

#4: Comma

Commas can be used in a number of ways, including to separate elements of a sentence, or to separate items in a list.

They’re used after a subordinate clause at the start of a sentence:

After the play, we went for dinner.

They’re also used to separate items in a list:

Peter found a marble, a button, and a piece of string.

Commas can also be used within large numbers to make them easier to read:

I had $1,500 to spend on a holiday.

Note that commas aren’t used when giving a year in numerals: it’s 2019 nor 2,019.

Further Reading:

When to Use a Comma: 10 Rules and Examples

A Comma (or Its Absence) Can Change a Sentence’s Message

5 Sentences in Need of Commas

The Rationale for the Serial Comma

#5: Colon

A colon can be used to introduce an example or series of items, or to join two independent clauses (where the second clause explains the first). It can also be used to introduce a quotation, though it isn’t always the best choice of punctuation mark for that.

For the school trip, please bring:

• A water bottle

• A sun hat

• Some spending money

I went home: there was no point staying after Sally had gone.

Further Reading:

When to Use a Colon: Rules and Examples

Pesky Colons and Semicolons

Quotations with Colons

#6: Semicolon

The semicolon (sometimes written as semi-colon) is used to join together two independent clauses that could otherwise stand as independent sentences. Both these examples are grammatically correct:

My friends caught the bus without me. I was left standing around on my own.

My friends caught the bus without me; I was left standing around on my own.

Semicolons can also be used in place of commas in a list that has commas within the list items. For instance:

I plan to visit: France, where I’ll see the Eiffel Tower;England, where I’ll see Buckingham Palace; and Germany, where I’ll see Neuschwanstein Castle.

Further Reading:

Proper Use of The Semicolon

3 Examples of How Semicolons Strengthen a Sentence

#7: Dash

The dash (not to be confused with the hyphen) is a handy punctuation mark that can often be used to replace parentheses or a colon. For instance:

The girl rose her hand (tentatively). 

The girl rose her hand—tentatively. 

It can also be used to indicate an interruption (e.g. in dialogue).

There are two types of dash:

The en-dash: –

The em-dash: —

In American English, the em-dash is normally used in sentences, as in the example above. The en-dash is used to indicate a span of time or a range of numbers:

From 2012–2014, I was at university.

Some publications, such as the Guardian, use the en-dash in place of the em-dash. If you do this, you should put spaces around the en-dash.

Further Reading:

How to Use Dashes

A Guide to Hyphens and Dashes

#8: Quotation Marks

Quotation marks enclose words that are a direct quotation. They’re used around dialogue, like this:

John said, “What’s the matter with you?”

Martin sighed. “You know what’s the matter.”

Quotation marks are always used in pairs. They can be double or single: double is more common in American English and single in British English. Quotes within quotes should use the alternative type of quotation mark:

Martin said, “When I saw Amy, she told me, ‘That’s it, we’re done.’ Do you think she really meant it?”

Further Reading:

All About Quotation Marks

5 Functions of Quotation Marks

Punctuation Errors: Quotation Marks for Emphasis

#9: Ellipsis

The ellipsis is used to indicate a pause or gap:

I wanted to make it up to her… eventually. 

It can also be used within quotations to indicate missing words, which is useful when you want to shorten a long quotation.

The ellipsis should always consist of three dots – don’t put five or six for emphasis, except in the most informal writing.

Further Reading:

The Elusive Ellipsis

All About Ellipses

In Search of a 4-Dot Ellipsis

#10: Parentheses

Parentheses are used for asides and clarifying information, like this:

She was his sister (from his father’s first marriage).

In most cases, you can replace parentheses with a comma without changing the meaning. If a sentence ends with the parentheses, the period (or question mark or exclamation mark) should go outside the parentheses, unless they enclose the whole sentence.

In British English, parentheses are called brackets.

Further Reading:

15 Purposes for Parentheses

#11: Brackets

Brackets are normally used to add clarity to a sentence, such as when you’re quoting someone. They indicate the addition of your words rather than the words of the person you’re quoting. For instance:

As John Smith writes, “[Winter] is a wonderful time of year, where everything lies in wait for the new life of Spring.”

In British English, these are called square brackets.

Further Reading:

A Complete Guide to Parentheses and Brackets

#12: Braces

Braces are rarely used outside mathematical expressions and computer programming, where they keep elements together. Here’s an example:

img.emoji {

display: inline !important;

border: none !important;

}

Punctuation Marks Within Words

#13: Apostrophe

The apostrophe has two main purposes: to indicate a possessive, and to indicate a missing letter. It’s used within words, like this:

Sam’s cake was much nicer than the one Tom made.

I don’t have time to get involved.

Be careful not to use apostrophes in plurals, and watch out for words that are easily confused, like “its” (belonging to it) and “it’s” (short for “it is”). 

Further Reading:

Functions of the Apostrophe

Punctuation Errors: Apostrophe for Plurals

The Singular Possessive Apostrophe

#14: Hyphen

The hyphen joins two (sometimes more) words together into a compound word. For instance:

He studies eighteenth–century literature.

We want to foster our students’ self–confidence. 

I get on very well with my mother–in–law.

It can be tricky to know which words should use a hyphen and which don’t, especially as usage tends to change over time. The word e-mail is now more often written email, for instance. A grammar checker like ProWritingAid or Grammarly can help, or you can search on Google to see how the word tends to be written by others.

Further Reading:

Hyphens Guide: Functions and Examples

5 Tips to Understand Hyphenated Words

—

Punctuation might seem tricky, and the rules can sometimes seem confusing. The main thing to remember is that punctuation exists to help make your meaning clear. 

By using punctuation marks correctly, you ensure that what you’ve written is easy for your readers to understand. If you’re struggling with any of these punctuation marks, take a look at the further reading suggestions for extra guidance … or dig through the Punctuation archive of articles for lots more help. 

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/14-english-punctuation-marks/

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5 Problems with Parenthesis

Parenthesis is the strategy of setting a word, phrase, or clause off from a sentence to interject additional information into that statement. Despite the name, parenthesis can be accomplished with two commas or a pair of dashes as well as with a brace of parentheses. However, several problems can occur when writers attempt to parenthesize: The punctuation employed is not appropriate, the parenthesis is not framed with complementary punctuation, the parenthesis is misplaced in the sentence, the inclusion of the parenthesis is grammatically faulty, or what appears to be a parenthetical element is in fact something else. The following sentences illustrate these five problems respectively.

1. He took it from me, stole it, really, years ago.

Really is a parenthesis subordinate to “stole it” (a parenthesis can follow rather than interrupt the phrase or clause it supplements), and “stole it, really” is a parenthesis subordinate to “He took it from me years ago,” so a hierarchy of punctuation should be employed to clarify the sentence organization. Because dashes are more emphatic than commas, they should assume the major parenthetical role; the comma separating “stole it” and really remains as a marker of the secondary parenthesis: “He took it from me—stole it, really—years ago.”

2. Extra money and facilities must be focused on, not away from the disadvantaged.

The writer intended “Extra money and facilities must be focused on the disadvantaged” to be the main clause, with “not away from” as the parenthesis, but the second of a tandem team of punctuation marks is missing: “Extra money and facilities must be focused on, not away from, the disadvantaged.” (Often, a main clause or a parenthesis also lacks one or more words because the writer failed to be vigilant about making the two sentence elements complementary, rendering the sentence grammatically flawed; search for “interpolated coordination” on this site for posts about this related issue.)

3. Attacks relating to phishing fraud attempts have been very common in recent times (e.g., someone posing as an organization’s CEO emails its chief financial officer to request an urgent payment transfer).

A parenthesis should be directly adjacent to the element of the sentence it pertains to. This parenthesis relates to “attacks relating to fraud attempts,” not to “recent times,” so it should immediately follow the former phrase: “Attacks relating to phishing fraud attempts (e.g., someone posing as an organization’s CEO emails its chief financial officer to request an urgent payment transfer) have been very common in recent times.”

4. The financial services industry has raised concerns related to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s (BCFP) authority to take action against financial institutions.

When using a term that will be subsequently referred to by an acronym or initialism, introduce the abbreviation in parentheses immediately following the spelled-out term. However, avoid doing so when using the term possessively and following the parenthesis with a noun that is a referent of the possessive; recast the sentence so that the possessive form of the term is not employed: “The financial services industry has raised concerns related to the authority of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) to take action against financial institutions.”

5. But the battle has not been lost—the battlefield keeps changing and continuing to evolve—as one door closes, another is opened.

This sentence is punctuated as if “the battlefield keeps changing and continuing to evolve” is a parenthetical statement interrupting the framing sentence, but the statement that remains when the parenthesis is omitted is “But the battle has not been lost[;] as one door closes, another is opened.” The resulting sentence makes sense, but when the omitted phrase is reinserted, the final clause reads as if it is an offshoot of the reinstated phrase, rather than a parenthetical phrase interrupting the two clauses. In other words, this sentence’s syntax does not support a parenthetical phrase.

Each dash, by itself, correctly signals that a shift in syntax is imminent (another function of the dash besides parenthesis), but so that the two dashes are not misinterpreted as bracketing a parenthetical comment, another punctuation mark should replace one dash or the other; any of the following solutions are suitable:

A. “But the battle has not been lost—the battlefield keeps changing and continuing to evolve; as one door closes, another is opened.”
B. “But the battle has not been lost—the battlefield keeps changing and continuing to evolve. As one door closes, another is opened.”
C. “But the battle has not been lost: The battlefield keeps changing and continuing to evolve—as one door closes, another is opened.”
D. “But the battle has not been lost. The battlefield keeps changing and continuing to evolve—as one door closes, another is opened.”

Any of these revisions will resolve the issue; I prefer either of the two that result in two sentences: examples B or D.

Sumber: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/5-problems-with-parenthesis/

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