Writing tips

Creative writing groups can help you find your voice.

I went out to a writers’ cafe last night and did some blackout poetry. (Also called redacted/erasure poetry.) It was super fun! I worked on maybe six or seven pieces. When I started, I was looking at what each piece of prose was telling me, but once I got going, I felt like I was…

POV: Improve your writing by doing more of it.

☺️☺️ Just to be sappy a moment… I love seeing writers improve over time. I am lucky enough to work with some authors whose creative wells seem bottomless. They are always writing. There are always more stories to tell. And I get to read them. And when you’ve seen someone’s early stories, then later ones,…

The best non-fiction I’ve read this year: ‘Dialogue’ by Robert McKee

Ah, this was much harder to decide. But here’s my top NON-FICTION read of the year. (Though I’m not enamoured with your cover, Mr McKee.) I’ve also read McKee’s popular ‘Story’, but I found this one better. It’s less pretentious. More actionable. And thoroughly entertaining. It seems I love learning from non-fiction books with a…

Is it OK to end a sentence with a preposition?

Where are you from? 😅From where are you? 😬 People get themselves in knots trying to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Roy Peter Clark comes up with three magic words you can add to avoid this. So that you don’t have to face the horror 😱 of ‘from’ being the last word of…

Is it lay or lie?

🛑 Stop the press. At some point I shared my advice on the lie/lay confusable. I thought I did a fairly decent job explaining the difference. BUT! Proper dues to Roy Peter Clark who offers this tip: 💡 Use the vowel sound to remind you. Lay as in place. And Lie as in recline. That’ll…

Is it farmers’ market or farmers market? Assassins’ guild or assassins guild?

What does a farmers market have in common with an assassins guild? Well, I consulted this MW article about the former’s apostrophe (or lack thereof) and wondered whether I could apply the principle to the latter…https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-there-an-apostrophe-in-farmers-market-punctuation-possessive “Style guides try to make a distinction between possessive phrases and those that are merely descriptive. Since a farmers…

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