MyEnglishTeacher.net, My English Teacher, My English Teacher.net, the site for ESL, EFL, English and English as a second language students and teachers. Comics :: Grammar. This is a grammar comic about the proper usage of who versus whom. A look at the meaning of "flushing out an idea. " This comic will LITERALLY make butterflies explode out of your underpants. A guide explaining when to use i.e. instead of e.g. A little bit ironic, dontcha think? The right way to use an apostrophe (in illustrated form). All artwork and content on this site is Copyright © 2016 Matthew Inman. How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method.
20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Gets Wrong. I’ve edited a monthly magazine for more than six years, and it’s a job that’s come with more frustration than reward. If there’s one thing I am grateful for — and it sure isn’t the pay — it’s that my work has allowed endless time to hone my craft to Louis Skolnick levels of grammar geekery. As someone who slings red ink for a living, let me tell you: grammar is an ultra-micro component in the larger picture; it lies somewhere in the final steps of the editing trail; and as such it’s an overrated quasi-irrelevancy in the creative process, perpetuated into importance primarily by bitter nerds who accumulate tweed jackets and crippling inferiority complexes.
But experience has also taught me that readers, for better or worse, will approach your work with a jaundiced eye and an itch to judge. While your grammar shouldn’t be a reflection of your creative powers or writing abilities, let’s face it — it usually is. Who and Whom This one opens a big can of worms. Which and That Lay and Lie Moot Nor.
Welcome to Sarvagnan - English | Grammar | Children | Students | Teachers | Dictionary | Fun | Similar Sounding Words | Animation | Games. Grammar Chants for ESL. By Kenneth Beare Updated December 30, 2014. The use of grammar chants to learn English are useful for all learners and ages. Chants can be used to learn vocabulary and grammar and are a lot of fun to use in classes. They are especially effective when used to help students learn problematic forms. These chants are also known as "jazz chants" and there are a number of great "jazz chants" books available by Carolyn Graham who has done a great job of introducing her jazz chants to English learners. The chants on the site cover a wide range of simple grammar and vocabulary subjects for lower level English learners.
English learning chants use repetition to engage the right side of the brain's 'musical' intelligence. Continue reading below our video Play Video Using a chant is pretty straight-forward. Here they are: Have fun! These English learning chants were made up on my own, and I'm sure anyone can make up their own chants as well. Example of the beginning of a chant: What What do you do? When She. Grammar Punk: Grammar Games and Grammar Lessons to Make Teaching Grammar Fun. Welcome to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) How to use a semicolon. How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method.
I Write Like. 7 Ways to Use Brain Science to Hook Readers. Writing and brain science Story is universal. There isn’t a society on earth that doesn’t tell stories. It’s no wonder, because stories captivate us in a way nothing else can. And yet, until recently, story was primarily seen as a delightful form of entertainment. Sure, we thought, stories make life much more enjoyable, but they don’t play a necessary role when it comes to survival.
Wrong! It turns out story has been crucial to our survival from day one. In the same way that food tastes good so we’ll eat it, stories are entertaining so we’ll pay attention to them. Curiosity is the trigger. In other words, the desire to find out what happens next. This information is a game changer for writers. So, with that in mind, let’s explore 7 ways your story can hook the reader’s brain. 1.
Surprise gets our attention by defying our expectations. That’s exactly how a story grabs the brain’s attention: by instantly letting us know that all is not as it seems – yes, beginning with the opening sentence. 2. 100 Exquisite Adjectives. By Mark Nichol Adjectives — descriptive words that modify nouns — often come under fire for their cluttering quality, but often it’s quality, not quantity, that is the issue. Plenty of tired adjectives are available to spoil a good sentence, but when you find just the right word for the job, enrichment ensues.
Practice precision when you select words. Here’s a list of adjectives: Subscribe to Receive our Articles and Exercises via Email You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed! 21 Responses to “100 Exquisite Adjectives” Rebecca Fantastic list! Fifty (50!) Tools Which Can Help You in Writing. Editing Wizard. British and American terms - Oxford Dictionaries Online. British and American English often spell the same word differently, for example: labour/labor, enthrall/enthral, or centre/center.
You can find out more about these differences here. There are also many cases in which the two varieties of English use different terms to describe the same thing. Here’s a list of various British words and expressions together with their American equivalents. Back to usage. You may also be interested in Shall or will? Commonly confused words Can or may? Guide to Writing Competitions, Literary Agents & More. Book Ideas for Young Writers. 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing. I read this cool article last week — “30 Things To Stop Doing To Yourself” — and I thought, hey, heeeey, that’s interesting. Writers might could use their own version of that. So, I started to cobble one together.
And, of course, as most of these writing-related posts become, it ended up that for the most part I’m sitting here in the blog yelling at myself first and foremost. That is, then, how you should read this: me, yelling at me. If you take away something from it, though? Then go forth and kick your writing year in the teeth. Onto the list. 1. Right here is your story. 2. Momentum is everything. 3. You have a voice. 4. Worry is some useless shit. 5. The rise of self-publishing has seen a comparative surge forward in quantity. 6. I said “stop hurrying,” not “stand still and fall asleep.” 7. It’s not going to get any easier, and why should it?
8. 9. The mind is the writer’s best weapon. 10. 11. 12. Writers are often ashamed at who they are and what they do. 13. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 14. How to Write Better: 7 Instant Fixes. Does your writing stand out? Do you worry whether your writing is good enough? I can see you nodding your head. You are not alone. Every writer has doubts about his or her writing.
The good thing is that writing is a journey. Every sentence you write is a step along the road and makes you a better writer. On this journey, you can either travel the long road – or use shortcuts. Using shortcuts means learning to spot and fix mistakes in order to write better. Here are seven instant fixes that will improve your writing. But … what is good writing? Inexperienced writers think that ‘good’ writing is elaborate. No, good writing is simple. 1: The art of natural Check out an example of elaborate writing below (I’ve sourced examples of writing from free Kindle books chosen at random). This is from a story about a young girl who is at home with her young brother when a thunderstorm strikes.
An ebony abyss claimed the den. I take this to mean, “The room went dark.” Your words should sound natural. Careful! SHE IS A BOOK | WritersCafe.org. The easiest way to write your life story. William Shunn : Manuscript Format : Short Story. WriteWords - Writing Community - jobs, directory, forums, articles for writers. Plot Scenario Generator. 25 Things You Should Know About Word Choice. 1. A Series Of Word Choices Here’s why this matters: because both writing and storytelling comprise, at the most basic level, a series of word choices. Words are the building blocks of what we do.
They are the atoms of our elements. They are the eggs in our omelets. They are the shots of liquor in our cocktails. Get it right? 2. Words are like LEGO bricks: the more we add, the more we define the reality of our playset. 3. You know that game — “Oh, you’re cold, colder, colder — oh! 4. Think of it like a different game, perhaps: you’re trying to say as much as possible with as few words as you can muster. 5. Finding the perfect word is as likely as finding a downy-soft unicorn with a pearlescent horn riding a skateboard made from the bones of your many enemies. 6. For every right word, you have an infinity of wrong ones. 7. You might use a word that either oversteps or fails to meet the idea you hope to present. 8. 9. Incorrect word choice means you’re using the wrong damn word. 10. 11. Internet Resources - Writers Resources - Writing Links & Writers Links for Writers - Word Stuff.
Unsorted [/writers] James Patrick Kelly - Murder Your Darlings - "When time comes to make that final revision, however, you must harden your heart, sharpen the ax and murder your darlings. " Greda Vaso - Determining the Readability of a Book - includes formulas for Gunning's Fog Index, Flesch Formula, Powers Sumner Kearl L. Kip Wheeler - Literary Terms and Definitions L. Kip Wheeler - Comp - Lit - Poetry - Links - more Style - Grammar - Errors in English [/writers]American Heritage - Book of English Usage - free download Band-Aid AP StylebookPaul Brians - Common Errors in EnglishCJ Cherryh - Writerisms and other Sins The Chicago Manual of Style FAQ Gary N. Curtis - The Fallacy Files - Logical fallacies and bad arguments Prof.
Charles Darling [RIP] - Guide to Grammar and Writing The Economist (UK) - Style Guide John Eshleman - Logical Fallacies H.W. 36 Writing Essays by Chuck Palahniuk. 1: Establishing Your Authority Chuck teaches two principal methods for building a narrative voice your readers will believe in. Discover the Heart Method and the Head Method and how to employ each to greatest effect. 2: Developing a Theme At the core of Minimalism is focusing any piece of writing to support one or two major themes. 3: Using “On-The-Body” Physical Sensation Great writing must reach both the mind and the heart of your reader, but to effectively suspend reality in favor of the fictional world, you must communicate on a physical level, as well. 4: Submerging the “I” First-person narration, for all its immediacy and power, becomes a liability if your reader can't identify with your narrator. 5: Nuts and Bolts: Hiding a Gun Sometimes called "plants and payoffs" in the language of screenwriters, Hiding a Gun is an essential skill to the writer's arsenal that university writing courses almost never touch upon. 6: Nuts and Bolts: “Thought” Verbs 8: Nuts and Bolts: Using Choruses.
A. Victoria Mixon, Editor & Blog Archive & 10 Things To Do To Become a Better Writer in 10 Days. Questionnaires for Writing Character Profiles - Creative Writing Help. Enter your e-mail to get the e-book for FREE. We'll also keep you informed about interesting website news. "I have searched the web and used different worksheets, but none have come close to your worksheets and descriptions of (what to do and what not to do). Both courses I have taken have with Creative Writing Now have been amazing. Each time I have learned something new. The one thing I love, you take everything apart and give examples. " - Katlen Skye "As usual - I already love the course on Irresistible Fiction, rewriting a lot and improving greatly even after the first lesson.
Thanks so much for the great courses. " - Kitty Safken “Essentials of Fiction proved that I could indeed write and I wrote every day, much to my boyfriend's dismay (waa sniff).” - Jill Gardner "I am loving the course and the peer interaction on the blog is fantastic!!! " "I'm enjoying the weekly email course, Essentials of Poetry Writing. "Thank you for all the material in this course. "I'm learning so much. *FRESH YARN * The Online Salon for personal essays * Brought to you by Hillary Carlip. 201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity. Arouse your creativity Electric flesh-arrows … traversing the body. A rainbow of color strikes the eyelids. A foam of music falls over the ears. It is the gong of the orgasm. ~ Anais Nin Creativity is like sex. You fumble your way through, you get lost in it, you fall in love.
Both are passionate, rhythmic, pleasurable, and flowing. I know, I know. The people I speak of are writers. Below, I’ve exposed some of their secret tips, methods, and techniques. Now, lie back, relax and take pleasure in these 201 provocative ways to arouse your creativity. Great hacks from Merlin Mann of 43 Folders.
Write One Letter & Get Five Letters Back from The Rumpus. 25 Things You Should Know About Character. Previous iterations of the “25 Things” series: 25 Things Every Writer Should Know 25 Things You Should Know About Storytelling And now… Here you’ll find the many things I believe — at this moment! — about characters: 1. Without character, you have nothing. 2. A great character can be the line between narrative life and story death. 3. Don’t believe that all those other aspects are separate from the character. 4.
The audience will do anything to spend time with a great character. 5. It is critical to know what a character wants from the start. 6. It doesn’t matter if we “like” your character, or in the parlance of junior high whether we even “like-like” your character. 7. It is critical to smack the audience in the crotchal region with an undeniable reason to give a fuck. 8. You must prove this thesis: “This character is worth the audience’s time.” 9. Don’t let the character be a dingleberry stuck to the ass of a toad as he floats downriver on a bumpy log. 10. 11. 12. 13.
The law of threes. Kurt Vonneguts 8 Tips on How to Write a Great Story. 50 Problem Words and Phrases. Daily Grammar Archive - Comprehensive Archive of Grammar Lessons.