Seymour slammed his fist down on the scarred oak table, hard enough to make the grimoire bounce. To become a journeyman wizard, he needed a special spell, greater than the animated puppets or illusions he’d made thus far. He needed…
Yearly Archives: 2015
Commas and Introductory Words
Commas should be used not only after introductory phrases, but after introductory words as well. It’s a simple-seeming rule, but as always, the permutations can be frustrating. I have to admit my googling netted me a disappointing catch on this…
Tagged with: adverbs, Cathleen Townsend, commas, interjections, introductory words, names used as a form of address
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Commas: Introductory Phrases
According to Purdue (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/607/) introductory phrases, unlike introductory clauses, “don’t have both a subject and a verb that are separate from the subject and verb in the main clause of the sentence. Common introductory phrases include prepositional phrases, appositive phrases,…
Tagged with: absolute phrases, Cathleen Townsend, commas, infinitive phrases, introductory phrases, participial phrases, prepositional phrases
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Commas: Introductory Clauses
A comma is used after an introductory clause or phrase. So first, you’ll need to know the difference between clauses and phrases. If you don’t know, don’t worry–it’s actually quite easy. A clause has a subject and a verb (predicate),…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, clause vs. phrase, Comma, dependent clause, independent clause, introductory clause
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Commas and Independent Clauses
It’s time for more fascinating punctuation. That subtle little comma is possibly the most misused punctuation mark in the English language. That’s really saying something, since English also has apostrophes. This post will focus on independent clauses, which deserve a short review…
Author Interview with Erik Therme
What’s the craziest story idea you’ve ever had? And did you write it? At one point I toyed with the idea of writing a book about a donut shop robbery, told from multiple people’s perspectives. I have no idea how…
Weasel Words, Filters, and Other Candidates For Cutting
I used to overwrite in insane amounts. Unfortunately, I wrote seven novels before I discovered this, and now I’m working my way through, cutting them all down to size. So in honor of cutting my fourth novel by a third,…
Apostrophes–End the Abuse!
Perhaps it’s just that misery loves company. But I’m going to share some basic apostrophe rules anyway. 🙂 Apostrophes are most commonly used in contractions. I am becomes I’m: I’m running as fast as I can. They are becomes they’re:…
How to Use Semicolons
I’ll pick up the challenge. This is how to use semicolons if you’re not typing an emoticon. First, you need to understand independent clauses. An independent clause is a complete sentence–subject, verb, (and most often) object. Simple independent clauses are…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, conjuction, contrasting ideas, independent clauses, semicolons
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Cathleen Townsend 