You know you shouldn’t use clichés, right? They’re the enemy of all writers, according to some experts, and using even one cliché will make you look lazy and unimaginative. And you’ve sucked it in like water in a sponge. You know you should avoid clichés like . . . well, no, not like the plague. … Read more
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.—President Franklin D. Roosevelt Overcoming fear requires effort no matter what you’re afraid of. It could be anything from a full-fledged phobia—of spiders, for example—to feeling nervous around someone like your boss or a celebrity. Fear can be healthy. If you’re afraid of a shadowy figure … Read more
Did you take the Simple Writing comma quiz? If not, you might want to give it a whirl before reading on. As of today (November 22, 2019), the average score for 9,554 readers who tried their luck—or exercised their knowledge—is 60%. Since the quiz has 20 questions, a score of 60% means 12 correct and … Read more
The blank page stares back at you. Suddenly, smacking your head against a wall sounds like a good idea. You rock back and forth. You rub your chin and start picking at cuticles. Maybe you crack your knuckles. And the minutes tick by as you ponder the meaning of writer’s block. How do I start … Read more
Avoiding gender bias in your writing might be the last thing you’re worried about. You’re not biased about anything, right? Wrong. We’re all biased, and sometimes we’re not even aware of it. “Bias” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. It can simply mean having a preference for one thing over another—a leaning, an outlook, an … Read more
Either you have a goal—or you don’t. Either you have a priority—or you don’t. Either writing matters to you—or it doesn’t. It’s that simple. Let’s get real here. I know all about the excuses. I know all about how life just somehow happens—yeah, right—and you get caught up in all sorts of stuff. You think … Read more
What’s that? You don’t know where to put a comma in that sentence? Say it ain’t so! You’re worried your grammar isn’t good enough? Say it ain’t so! You don’t know how to quote someone, set up dialogue, or format a manuscript? Oh, heartbreaker, say it ain’t so! You might have wondered, at one point … Read more
A lot of beginner writers and even more experienced writers wonder: What’s the difference between editing and proofreading? And what’s copyediting? Then there’s developmental editing, substantive editing, and stylistic editing. Structural editing, line editing, project editing, technical editing, and fact checking. Even proofreading is sometimes (erroneously) called editing, although there is such a thing as … Read more
As long as readers can understand you, grammar shouldn’t matter. Or should it? Your ideas are big and important, and that’s what readers should pay attention to, right? Or you don’t want to come off as a snob or stuffy or pedantic or anything other than yourself. You write from the heart and the soul, … Read more
Do you ever wonder how other writers write? How they create a blog post or any other kind of writing? What their writing steps are? If you feel frustrated and lost sometimes—especially if you’re tormented by writers block—take a look at my system in the screencast below. I intentionally saved the steps (in separate documents) … Read more