Brilliant short story writer George Saunders has written his first novel, and reflects here on the process.
Originally shared by Samantha Dunaway Bryant
A very articulate description of what can be a very inarticulate process: what we actually DO when we write. H/T Shannon Turlington
Originally shared by Jennifer Ouellette
Benjamin Franklin wasn’t a natural talent. Here’s how he taught himself to write https://qz.com/914305
Dangling modifiers always lose writers points with me when I’m reviewing, because they imply that the writers are not thinking through their sentences.
I hit one the other day along these lines: “As the only young lady on board, the captain had been very solicitous of her comfort.”
Originally shared by Laura Gibbs
When they are funny, they really ARE funny:
Oozing slowly across the dish, Kevin watched the egg yolk.
[don’t you want yolk to be a verb? ha ha]
Gasping for his last breath, the professor killed the cockroach.
Grooming each other, my professor and I saw the kittens.
Another good piece from standoutbooks on giving your writing more depth, weight, and significance.
My poetical friends may especially enjoy this one, but it’s about using a poetical device in your prose fiction.
I have some material drafted on using these in fiction.
Originally shared by Winchell Chung
Hmmmm, I wonder if this could be adapted to role-playing games. For rolling up the personality of a non-player character.
From article:
According to psychologists, the extraordinary variety of human personality can be broken down into the so-called ‘Big Five’ personality traits, namely neuroticism (how moody a person is), extraversion (how enthusiastic a person is), openness (how open-minded a person is), agreeableness (a measure of altruism), and conscientiousness (a measure of self-control).
These are about 50:50 pedantic insistence on lost causes (like “data” as plural) and correction of common confusions between similar words (like “home in”). See if you can spot which is which.
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
Harvard linguist reveals most misused words in English – Business Insider
‘… Here are some highlights:
Adverse means “detrimental.” It does not mean “averse” or “disinclined.” Correct: “There were adverse effects.” / “I’m not averse to doing that.”
Appraise means to “ascertain the value of.” It does not mean to “apprise” or to “inform.” Correct: “I appraised the jewels.” / “I apprised him of the situation.”
Beg the question means that a statement assumes the truth of what it should be proving; it does not mean to “raise the question.” Correct: “When I asked the dealer why I should pay more for the German car, he said I would be getting ‘German quality,’ but that just begs the question.”
Bemused means “bewildered.” It does not mean “amused.” Correct: “The unnecessarily complex plot left me bemused.” / “The silly comedy amused me.”
Cliché is a noun, not an adjective. The adjective is clichéd. Correct: “Shakespeare used a lot of clichés.” / “The plot was so clichéd.”
Data is a plural count noun not, standardly speaking, a mass noun. [Note: “Data is rarely used as a plural today, just as candelabra and agenda long ago ceased to be plurals,” Pinker writes. “But I still like it.”] Correct: “This datum supports the theory, but many of the other data refute it.”
Depreciate means to “decrease in value.” It does not mean to “deprecate” or to “disparage.” Correct: “My car has depreciated a lot over the years.” / “She deprecated his efforts.”
Disinterested means “unbiased.” It does not mean “uninterested.” Correct: “The dispute should be resolved by a disinterested judge.” / “Why are you so uninterested in my story?”
Enormity refers to extreme evil. It does not mean “enormousness.” [Note: It is acceptable to use it to mean a deplorable enormousness.] Correct: “The enormity of the terrorist bombing brought bystanders to tears.” / “The enormousness of the homework assignment required several hours of work.”
Hone means to “sharpen.” It does not mean to “home in on” or “to converge upon.” Correct: “She honed her writing skills.” / “We’re homing in on a solution.”
Hung means “suspended.” It does not mean “suspended from the neck until dead.” Correct: “I hung the picture on my wall.” / “The prisoner was hanged.”
Ironic means “uncannily incongruent.” It does not mean “inconvenient” or “unfortunate.” Correct: “It was ironic that I forgot my textbook on human memory.” / “It was unfortunate that I forgot my textbook the night before the quiz.”
Nonplussed means “stunned” or “bewildered.” It does not mean “bored” or “unimpressed.” Correct: “The market crash left the experts nonplussed.” / “His market pitch left the investors unimpressed.”
Parameter refers to a variable. It not mean “boundary condition” or “limit.” Correct: “The forecast is based on parameters like inflation and interest rates.” / “We need to work within budgetary limits.”
Phenomena is a plural count noun — not a mass noun. Correct: “The phenomenon was intriguing, but it was only one of many phenomena gathered by the telescope.”
Shrunk, sprung, stunk, and sunk are past participles–not words in the past tense. Correct: “I’ve shrunk my shirt.” / “I shrank my shirt.”
Simplistic means “naively or overly simple.” It does not mean “simple” or “pleasingly simple.” Correct: “His simplistic answer suggested he wasn’t familiar with the material.” / “She liked the chair’s simple look.”
Verbal means “in linguistic form.” It does not mean “oral” or “spoken.” Correct: “Visual memories last longer than verbal ones.”
Effect means “influence”; to effect means “to put into effect”; to affect means either “to influence” or “to fake.” Correct: “They had a big effect on my style.” / “The law effected changes at the school.” / “They affected my style.” / “He affected an air of sophistication to impress her parents.”
Lie (intransitive: lies, lay, has lain) means to “recline”; lay (transitive: lays, laid, has laid) means to “set down”; lie (intransitive: lies, lied, has lied) means to “fib.” Correct: “He lies on the couch all day.” / “He lays a book upon the table.” / “He lies about what he does.”
…’
Tension in my stories is something I’m working on improving, and this is a good discussion of how it works and how to build, sustain, and release it.
Note that you also use a comma before a term of direct address as well as after one: Let’s eat, Grandma!
Originally shared by Grammar Girl
Here are 15 of the most common ways to use a comma.
