Writing Tips
Puzzling Punctuation — Carolyn Wilker
Punctuation trips up many writers, from beginner to the more experienced, so for this post, I’ll address six of the commonly used punctuation marks: hyphen, en dash, em dash, colon, semicolon, and ellipsis. Knowing correct usage is important for anyone who writes.
Me? A Writer? — Janice Dick
How do I become a writer? What are the qualifications? The short answer is: you become a writer by writing. Doesn’t matter what you write or whether or not you’re published. If you write, you are a writer. That’s the one non-negotiable qualification. The long answer goes beyond this simple explanation.
Active or Passive Voice? — Carolyn Wilker
As an editor I pay attention to the use of verbs in my clients’ or students’ writing and suggest when the active form would be more effective, and affirm when the passive is appropriate. Active and passive voices are different than verb tense which tells the reader if the action happens in the present, past… Read more »
The Elusive Comma — Carolyn Wilker
In writing classes, particularly when it comes to grammar, we often get in a discussion over commas. While one throws up her hands and says, “Let the editor fix it,” another asks, “Tell me again where they go.”
Writing Goals and Distractions — Janice Dick
I’ve come to my office to write. That’s the plan, but my actual behavior is often quite different from my intent: 9:30 AM Go upstairs to office 9:35 AM Tidy desk, clean up desktop, align folders. 9:45 AM Check emails (there might be a message from my agent or an editor, or even that contest… Read more »
Writers Read??? — Brenda Wood
Read! Not me!! “I am a writer,” I declared. So I slavishly struggled my words onto paper for years, feeling guilty every time I stopped for a relaxing reading break. Then someone told me writers need to read, read and read some more!
5 Reasons you should create your own writer’s notebook — Ruth L. Snyder
Every writer should have a notebook that goes everywhere with them and is used every day. Why? Here are my top five reasons: 1. To keep track of possible topics for stories or articles – Ideas come to writers at the strangest times and places. You could be sleeping, or walking down the sidewalk, or… Read more »
Start Where You Are — Brenda Wood
Struggling with a topic? Don’t know how to get that fascinating novel onto paper? Let me ask …do you journal? Our story may actually set someone else on the path to freedom because it gives encouragement and hope. It honours God and becomes a ‘remembrance’ stone.
Showing or Telling? — Carolyn Wilker
A student wrote a story about a day she walked her dog to the park and about their discovery of a body. She had hurried to a nearby house to ask someone to call police, and when the police arrived, they wanted her to give a statement. She wrote that she felt shaken from the… Read more »
Moving on after rejections — Carolyn Wilker
Dear Writer, I have it on good authority that you are not alone in getting rejections. It’s part of the writing business. It’s painful, I’ll allow, for I have received them too. But truly, what do you do with your rejection notices?