Learn more about grammar and punctuation, sentence structure and clarity, vocabulary and word choice, and developing a writing style.
If you’re like a lot of writers—and I suspect you are—you might not be sure how to use ellipsis points, also known as suspension points or simply ellipses. They’re the “three dots” that mean … well, lots of things. Even the spelling and meaning can be confusing. Ellipsis (singular) can refer to an omission of … Read more
You’ve heard active verbs make your writing clear, more concise, and easier to read. Right? And passive verbs should be avoided because they’re clunky and imprecise. They can be confusing and difficult to read, too, because they require more words in a sentence than active verbs do. Knowing the difference between active verbs and passive … Read more
Quizzes are a great way to learn. The best part is discovering what you know and what you don’t know. Plus, in this case, you’re testing your comma skills, which are super important for any writer. And with an informal quiz like this one, there’s no performance pressure—you’re not in school, people—so you can relax … 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
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
You’ve heard the advice: passive verbs are a big no-no and active verbs are essential to good writing. But do you know the difference? Can you spot active and passive verbs in your own writing? Do you know when passive verbs should be used? Knowing active verbs are usually better than passive verbs is one … Read more
Ever hear the advice to cut your final draft by 10%? It’s a writing trick usually attributed to Stephen King in On Writing, but it probably goes back to the ancient Greeks. Or at least Thomas Jefferson, who wrote “The most valuable of all talents is never using two words when one will do.” It’s … Read more
If commas confuse you, you’re not alone. Like many writers, you might play a guessing game: I’m pretty sure that’s right, you might think, as you pop a comma somewhere in a sentence. Or echoes of English teachers ring in your ears: Use a comma where you naturally pause, whispers Mrs.O’Leary or Mr. Radnor. But … Read more
A reader sent in a question about -ing words: “OK, you said no question was stupid. So, I have been told not to use ing words in fiction writing because it is not the right tense. Why?” Have you heard this advice? Have you wondered about it? We use words that end in -ing all the … Read more