Tag: writing
group name: grammarweasel
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July 22, 2008 06:15 PM EDT --
A few months ago, I entered a writing contest where the goal was to demonstrate how much more effective it is to show, don't tell. I was in just the right mood to have some . . .
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June 13, 2008 07:10 AM EDT --
You're just writing along, trying to meet your deadline. You certainly don't mean to hurt anyone. But then, without even thinking about it, you've done it... you've dangled a participle. . . .
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June 13, 2008 10:55 PM EDT --
In this post we're going to explore something you may use all the time in your writing—probably without even knowing it. I'm talking about the absolute phrase .
Basically, an absolute . . .
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June 22, 2008 02:00 AM EDT --
You probably know that if you accidentally type, say, aobut or Febuary in a Word document, squiggly little red underlining will alert you to your mistake. Then you just select the offending word and . . .
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June 13, 2008 11:00 PM EDT --
Passive Resistance
In this post we'll begin to examine the dreaded critiquing mark of passive .
"Passive-ness" has received excessive and perhaps undue scrutiny in the . . .
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June 13, 2008 07:18 AM EDT --
In Part I we explored dangling participles . Recall that a participle is a verb form that acts like an adjective , and a dangling participle describes a noun which is not in the sentence . Can you . . .
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June 13, 2008 01:44 PM EDT --
My previous posts taught how to correct dangling participles. This time we'll look at some other common errors that crop up with participial phrases.
Remember our device for checking whether a . . .
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June 19, 2008 02:07 PM EDT --
The Dialogue Bog
The dialogue bog is where many beginning fiction writers seem to get caught. It's a set of common dialogue problems that mark you as an amateur. They're easy mistakes . . .
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June 22, 2008 08:58 PM EDT --
In my earlier post 22 Reasons Not To Trust Spell-Check , I gave you a test: Replace each (?) with the appropriate word from the following list.
I know (?) no way that Porsche could be (?). . . .
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February 11, 2009 06:58 PM EST --
This is the prologue to my new book. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments.
Prologue
He knew what he needed . . .
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July 29, 2008 10:04 AM EDT --
Here's a quick overview of the helpful articles on grammar and writing now available at The Grammar Weasel :
Dangling Participles (series of 2 articles)
Participial Phrases
Absolute . . .
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June 27, 2008 06:04 PM EDT --
The comma is probably the most commonly used punctuation mark in the English language. Or maybe it's second after the period; I'm not sure. But I think I can say with certainty that it's the . . .
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June 13, 2008 11:12 PM EDT --
In the "Passive Resistance" articles , we learned how to recognize some of the passive voice's many disguises and how to deal with them. While the techniques varied, the result was always . . .
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June 23, 2008 04:54 PM EDT --
In the last post I offered you a challenge: to type the word 'til in MS Word . . . with a properly curving apostrophe. If you tried it, you probably typed 'til (note the mark is actually . . .
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July 06, 2008 10:40 PM EDT --
You're just writing along, trying to meet your deadline. You certainly don't mean to hurt anyone. But then, without even thinking about it, you've done it... you've dangled a participle. . . .
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July 28, 2008 12:44 AM EDT --
German may be a tough language to learn, but they did make it easy on us in one aspect: all nouns are capitalized. You never have to beat your Brain against your Skull wondering whether this Word or that . . .
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September 20, 2009 12:45 PM EDT --
How about a quick quiz? Answers below.
1. Shoplifting is an (everyday, every day) occurrence. 2. It happens almost (everyday, every day).
3. We sang the passage (altogether, . . .
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January 29, 2009 05:41 PM EST --
A post for Thursday's Gather writing Essential.
Chapter One: Page 1
Dancers twirled in unison as the strains of the waltz filled her ears. Heat from the dozens of candles radiated through the . . .
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September 15, 2008 02:39 PM EDT --
This is a public repost written for the group First Line Short Story 2 . Anyone may join, but all submissions are private and may only be viewed by group members. Come join the writing fun! . . .
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June 16, 2008 10:20 AM EDT --
Earlier I promised a long-awaited distinction between passive voice and passive writing —or more specifically, passive verbs . Passive voice describes a sentence in which the subject receives . . .
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