Homophones. We should all have learned long ago that special list of words that sound the same and yet are spelled differently and have very different meanings. But that was a long time ago, so sometime in the flurry of writing, the wrong word quietly sneaks in and settles down unobtrusively in a sentence. Perhaps you forgot the difference. Maybe you never knew....
Read MoreThere are certain mistakes that are frequently made even by those who know better. We all learned our grammar lessons way back when, and yet we get grooving on the copy and things slip by us. I bring this up not to be preachy but to highlight common errors by way of helping people like me remember to avoid them. Take the simple three letter combination of i-t-s....
Read MoreA challenge for you: try writing three paragraphs without using the word “is.” This tiny word has such a powerful role in our language that nearly nothing can be said without it. It can, however, become a crutch or even worse a blockade to the creative imagery needed to make a piece come alive. Falling back on it over and over precludes the use of more...
Read MoreThere are times when the words just won’t come. The idea is to big or the story too long and it seems impossible to even get started. You try a lead and then another and then another and nothing seems interesting enough. Or worse, you can’t even find a place to start and you’re starting to wonder why you thought you could write in the first place....
Read MoreIt is much easier to say that writers write than it is for writers to write. A blank page is overwhelming and sometimes the ideas are so unwieldy that the refuse to be corralled long enough to be put on paper (or computer screen). That’s when a writer needs tricks to get things moving along. All good writers have their a few to trot out as they get stuck....
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