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Creative writing prompts . com ideas for writers. 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. Writing. Imagination Prompt Generator. 60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers. June 20th, 2010 Finding the information you need as a writer shouldn’t be a chore.

Luckily, there are plenty of search engines out there that are designed to help you at any stage of the process, from coming up with great ideas to finding a publisher to get your work into print. Both writers still in college and those on their way to professional success will appreciate this list of useful search applications that are great from making writing a little easier and more efficient. Professional Find other writers, publishers and ways to market your work through these searchable databases and search engines. Writing These helpful tools will help you along in the writing process. Research Try out these tools to get your writing research done in a snap. Google Scholar: With this specialized search engine from Google, you’ll only get reliable, academic results for your searches.WorldCat: If you need a book from the library, try out this tool.

Reference Need to look up a quote or a fact? Niche Writers. Character Trait Chart. Character Trait Chart and Personality Components It can sometimes be helpful to make a Trait Chart for each character. This is especially helpful during the early stages of character development, before the character becomes as real to you as your mother. There are several charts of this sort available, some extremely detailed and some containing only facts and figures. I've tried to make one that includes the most important traits to help you visualize your character, both physically and emotionally.

To use this chart, print it out and make a copy for each of your characters. If you can't get it to print nicely, email me and ask me to send you a Word Document containing the Character Chart. Full name - a character's name is very important. Besides the character's official name, we also need to know what he is called (and, perhaps, what he prefers to be called). Date of Birth/Age - we should carefully consider assigning our character a birthday. Height - this doesn't need to be specific. Character Creation Made Easy, Pick a Personality-Method 6-MBTI Profiles | Learn to Write Fiction. 6 Ways to Hook Your Readers from the Very First Line. Although I consider myself an avid reader, I must admit I have a short attention span when it comes to getting into books. If you fail to grab my attention in the first few lines, I start spacing out.

Most readers are like me. Most people don’t want to spend the first 50 pages trying to get into a book. Here are a few things I find annoying in the first lines of a story: Dialogue. Nice somewhere on the first or second page, but not in the first line. We won’t know who’s speaking or why we should care.Excessive description. The last thing you want to do as a writer is annoy or bore people. (N.B. 1. Put a question in your readers’ minds. “Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did.” 2. By starting at an important moment in the story, your reader is more likely to want to continue so he or she can discover what will happen next. “It was dark where she was crouched but the little girl did as she’d been told.” 3. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” 4. 5. 6.

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. Spice Up Your Writing With Dialogue. By Judy Cullins Does your chapter sound like a report? Does it go on and on with past tense sentences that tell, rather than show? To spice up your self help, non-fiction or fiction book and even promotional writing, you need to use much more dialogue. Why? Because dialogue presents your story through your characters' hearts and minds. A story engages your reader rather than bore him with too much telling. Know that present tense (I see) writing is far more powerful and readable than past tense (I saw) and the wicked past perfect (I have seen). If your aim your book at agents and publishers, the first action acquisition editors make is to find a section of dialogue. It is difficult to put just the right words into dialogue--to convey character and emotion. Tips: 1. "You can't be serious, she said in astonishment.

" So, show how astonished through dialogue or beat. 2. Stop using -ly verbs such as "I'm afraid it's not going well," he said grimly. " "Is something wrong, sir? " 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Plot Scenario Generator. Ambiguous Words. Self Publish a Book - Lulu.com. Prettiest Words: All of Them. 23 Pages. Could Always Use More, Though. Table of Contents. Random Name Generator. Jeffry Dwight - Writing - Four Short Tales.

Four Short Tales The Tale of the Broken Vase One day a cultured lady was sad because the maid had broken her favorite vase. She sat alone in her room and cried for the beauty that had been but was now gone. When her husband came home, she flew to him and sought consolation in his strong arms. The Tale of the Man Who Became a Dog A poor man used to watch the lazy dogs of his rich master.

The Tale of the Fishwife Once a beautiful peasant girl, not quite woman-high, lived in a fishing village and worked tending nets and cleaning fish all day. The Tale of the Whiteface Once there was an entertainer in the king’s court who painted his face white, put on black clothing, and stopped speaking. Story Notes In 1992, I was working on a computer program that had to transmit large blocks of text over an unreliable modem connection.

For testing, I needed a block of text containing multiple sentences that was only one paragraph long. I still don't know if this is an art form or not. Guide for Writers: Latin Phrases. It’s a matter of taste and style, but not long ago American writers attempted to demonstrate their credentials to the world by including Latin and French phrases within works. A dash of Latin was expected of the moderately educated throughout the Western world. annus mirabilis - wonderful year arbiter elegantiae - judge of the elegant; one who knows the good things in life bona fides - good faith; credentials carpe diem - sieze the day; enjoy the present casus belli - cause justifying a war caveat emptor - buyer beware cui bono?

Caeteris paribus - all things being equal de facto - of fact; it is de gustibus non est disputandum - no disputing tastes; there is no accounting for taste Dei gratia - by the grace of God Deo gratias - thanks to God Deo volente - God willing dis aliter visum - it seemed otherwise to the gods Dominus vobiscum - Lord be with you dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - sweet and seemly it is to die for one’s country ecce homo - behold man ex cathedra - with authority. Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine. Tone/Attitude Words.

Classic Fairy Tales. Art – Medieval – Irish and Anglo design 3 | Vintage Printable. Synonym Finder & Find synonyms, antonyms & definition for (almost) any word - StumbleUpon. DarkCopy - Simple, full screen text editing. CALLIHOO Writing Helps--Feelings Table. Character Feelings You can describe your character's feelings in more exact terms than just "happy" or "sad.

" Check these lists for the exact nuance to describe your character's intensity of feelings. SF Characters | SF Items | SF Descriptors | SF Places | SF EventsSF Jobs/Occupations | Random Emotions | Emotions List | Intensity of Feelings. Setting book lists. Exercises for Fiction Writers - Page 2. Ten rules for writing fiction. Elmore Leonard: Using adverbs is a mortal sin 1 Never open a book with weather. If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a charac­ter's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead look­ing for people. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways than an Eskimo to describe ice and snow in his book Arctic Dreams, you can do all the weather reporting you want. 2 Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword. 3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. 4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" ... he admonished gravely. 5 Keep your exclamation points ­under control. 6 Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose". 7 Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly. 8 Avoid detailed descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. 10 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Diana Athill Margaret Atwood Roddy Doyle. 100 Most beautiful words in the English language* MyFonts: Magic. Knoword | Expand your vocabulary! - StumbleUpon.