Show, don’t tell is a broad concept, which is why one rule doesn’t cover it all. It’s subjective, and each telling instance found in your writing must be evaluated in context. Does this sentence sound like telling? Is this scene explaining too much? But if you look at only the text, you risk missing “told […]
September 5, 2016 by 63 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 53: No Contractions in Dialogue
What’s the worst writing mistake an author can make? It’s a broad one: doing something you think makes you look sophisticated and clever, when really… it doesn’t. A common manifestation of this is a conscientious avoidance of contractions in dialogue and narrative. I’ll admit I fell prey to this as a young writer (who not […]
March 7, 2016 by 64 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 49: Weak Conjunctions
Consider the conjunction. It’s one of the building blocks of solid prose. It links idea to idea, creates clarity, and offers emphasis in a solid punch at the center of your sentences. If it can do all that when properly handled, then you definitely want to make sure you’re not watering down your writing with unnecessarily weak […]
September 14, 2015 by 81 Comments Prose8 Paragraph Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making
Words, sentences, and paragraphs–they’re the bricks and mortar of the writing craft. They’re fundamental. If we’re not using them correctly, it doesn’t matter how wonderful our mastery of characters and story structure may be. They’re make-or-break territory. Not long ago, a Wordplayer messaged me, asking if I could write a post on paragraph mistakes. She explained, […]
September 7, 2015 by 105 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 44: Too Many Participle Phrases
Rushing to her computer, Katie tries not to spill her coffee. She is late to write a very important forty-fourth installment in the “Most Common Writing Mistakes” series. She looks for her coaster, rooting through her desk drawers. Finally, relieved by the protection of the precious particle board of her desktop from permanent circular stains, she plops down in […]
August 10, 2015 by 33 Comments Prose4 Methods to Invigorate Your Prose With Surprising Sentences
Good storytelling is all about the big pieces: structure, character, theme. But good writing? That’s much more intricate, much more intimate. Good writing is about creating purposeful and interesting prose. Creating prose of that caliber starts with the mechanics of grammar and spelling. But any middle-schooler is supposed to be able to do that. The art of […]
August 2, 2015 by 54 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 43: Too Many Exclamation Points!
Exclamation points! Woohoo! Yeehaw! Is there any punctuation mark that could possibly be more fun for writers to use? (Okay, so there is the interrobang, but that’s still kinda the same difference.) Exclamation points are there to help us express our big emotions: excitement, joy, anger, passion. Naturally, we want all those big emotions in our stories, so […]
October 24, 2014 by 21 Comments Writer's HelpTrouble With Your Latest Story? 10 Ways to Reinvent Your Writing Style
Are you stuck in the writing doldrums? Has your prose become lackluster and stale? If so, it might be time to change up your writing style and infuse some fresh life into your words and stories. Every writer has his own writing style–a particular combination of skills, techniques, characteristics, and practices that develops into his unique voice. […]
September 21, 2014 by 67 Comments ProseYou’ve Been Writing Sentences Wrong All Your Life! Find Out Why
The sentence. It’s the building block of all books. Without it, we may have a poem, a song, a movie, a painting, an interpretative dance. But we sure as scuttlebutt don’t have a book. Most of us learn how to write (and diagram!) sentences in grade school. Out of the many potential pitfalls of writing a […]
November 8, 2013 by 20 Comments Editing Your Novel5 Key Ways to Choose the Right Word (Without a Thesaurus!)
Figuring out how to choose the right word is probably only the second most difficult writing trait to master (right after ideas). Your word choice is a crucial part of your writing that directly correlates with your readers’ reactions to your content. Sure, you could have a spectacular idea, but without the appropriate words, you’re […]
