Misktakes In Writing

Here's the slightly revised and updated text of an article I wrote a while back. It seems to have done a lot of folks a lot of good as they have set out to learn the craft of writing fiction. Note: Except for the links to my Home page and the list of my books, all of the links and jumps in this article stay inside the document. You can save it to disk, load it to your Web reader off-line, and jump from item to item without accidently popping off into some other file in Katmandu. by Roger MacBride Allen You can read straight through or jump to: Roger MacBride Allen's Home Page A list of Roger MacBride Allen's books Introduction Errors of Style: Passive Voice Inappropriate Use of Summary Narration Point of View errors Poor Choice of Tense and Person Time Control Errors Unnamed Characters Errors of Substance: The Weird Opener & The Unintergrated Opener Retread of the Same Old Same Old Confusing the Author's Motives with the Character's Failure to Deal with Consequences Development Errors Bad Planning 1. 2.

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 12 Ways to Wish Someone a Happy Holiday Chances are you and your students will want to send a holiday greeting, so why not use web tools in class to create them? Various web tools and apps allow your students to be creative while spreading holiday cheer. Also, multimedia greetings are a fun way to learn about various cultures and their holiday traditions, because often they provide backgrounds and sayings for Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. Additionally, language learners can acquire new vocabulary and apply the vocabulary in a fun way while practicing writing, listening, reading, and speaking skills. Holiday Web Tools These are the free tools I recommend. Animoto- Upload images, choose a creative commons soundtrack from the library (many nice holiday tunes to choose from) and click a button to make a 30-second video. GoAnimate- Create holiday videos that are funny. Smilebox- Create a beautiful photo slideshow using their website or iPhone app. Mixbook- Collaborate on a photobook with friends. Shelly Terrell

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