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Eight Secrets Which Writers Won’t Tell You. Image from Flickr by Lazurite This is not particularly relevant to the post, but I’m getting an awful lot of comments telling me, often a little snarkily, “it’s ‘THAT’ not ‘WHICH’”. The “don’t use which for restrictive clauses” rule comes (as far as I can tell) from Strunk and White.

Plenty of authors, including Austen, have used “which” exactly as I use it in the title. It’s very commonly used like this here in England, so I’m guessing my comments are coming from US readers. There was never a period in the history of English when “which” at the beginning of a restrictive relative clause was an error. I thought about putting “that” in the title – but I like the sound of “which” between “secrets” and “writers”. And with that out of the way, enjoy the post! A few years ago, I’d look at published writers and think that they were somehow different from me. They were real writers. I’m going to go through eight secrets. Secret #1: Writing is Hard The truth is, though, that writing is hard. How to Disagree. March 2008 The web is turning writing into a conversation. Twenty years ago, writers wrote and readers read. The web lets readers respond, and increasingly they do—in comment threads, on forums, and in their own blog posts.

Many who respond to something disagree with it. The result is there's a lot more disagreeing going on, especially measured by the word. If we're all going to be disagreeing more, we should be careful to do it well. DH0. This is the lowest form of disagreement, and probably also the most common. U r a fag!!!!!!!!!! But it's important to realize that more articulate name-calling has just as little weight. The author is a self-important dilettante. is really nothing more than a pretentious version of "u r a fag. " DH1. An ad hominem attack is not quite as weak as mere name-calling. Of course he would say that. This wouldn't refute the author's argument, but it may at least be relevant to the case. DH2. DH3. This is often combined with DH2 statements, as in: DH4. DH5. DH6. Online collaboration that is user friendly, well designed and cost-effective • Onehub. The Pixar Touch - history of Pixar - Blog - Pixar story rules (one version)

Pixar story artist Emma Coats has tweeted a series of “story basics” over the past month and a half — guidelines that she learned from her more senior colleagues on how to create appealing stories: #1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes. #2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different. #3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite. #4: Once upon a time there was ___ . #5: Simplify. . #6: What is your character good at, comfortable with?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. . #8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. . #9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. . #10: Pull apart the stories you like. . #11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. . #12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. . #13: Give your characters opinions. List of collective nouns by collective term A-K. A skein of geese This is a list of traditional or whimsical collective nouns. The large number of collective nouns in English is based on a tradition of venery (words for groups of animals) which arose in the Late Middle Ages. Standard terms for particular groups are listed first in each group and shown in bold. See also[edit] References[edit] Nerd Paradise : How to Write a 20 Page Research Paper in Under a Day.

Posted on: 10 Cado 7:0 - 5.27.29 So you've procrastinated again. You told yourself you wouldn't do this 2 months ago when your professor assigned you this. But you procrastinated anyway. Shame on you. It's due in a few hours. What are you going to do? Pick a Topic The more "legally-oriented" your topic is, the better. Make a list ...of every possible outcome that this issue could cause in...the near future...the far future...of every person that this topic affects....of any instances where this topic has come in the news....what you would do about this topic if you had the chance/power/enough-sugar...any little detail you can think ofThe important thing about this is to think of ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, no matter how silly or far-fetched.

Reorder everything Put your most obvious argument first. Then put weird off the wall stuff, regardless of importance. Put the strongest argument for your case next. Now list the incidents that will help argue for your point. Spaces Now print it out. Write Turn in. 80 Journal Writing Prompts | TomSlatin.com. A sentence by sentence guide to writing a manifesto. 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. 50 Problem Words and Phrases. Synonym Finder » Find synonyms, antonyms & definition for (almost) any word. "SpellCheckPlus" Online Spelling and Grammar Checker for English as a Second Language. So much to tell you: the 100 club. IdiomSite.com - Find out the meanings of common sayings. Randomly Awesome Words. 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.

B-Rhymes - The Rhyme and Slant Rhyme Dictionary. 20 Obsolete English Words that Should Make a Comeback. Photo: Katherine Hodgson If we all start using them, these words can be resurrected. DURING MY UNDERGRADUATE studies as a Linguistics major, one of the things that struck me most is the amazing fluidity of language. New words are created; older words go out of style. Words can change meaning over time, vowel sounds shift, consonants are lost or added and one word becomes another. Living languages refuse to be static. The following words have sadly disappeared from modern English, but it’s easy to see how they could be incorporated into everyday conversation. Words are from Erin McKean’s two-volume series: Weird and Wonderful Words and Totally Weird and Wonderful Words. 1.

Verb trans. – “To confuse, jumble” – First of all this word is just fun to say in its various forms. 2. 3. Verb trans. – “To scrape together; to gather together from various sources” – I’m sure this wasn’t the original meaning of the word, but when I read the definition I immediately thought of copy-pasting. 4. 5. 6. 7. Literary Terms.