Originally posted on Allison Maruska:
I had the good fortune of participating in RMFW’s Colorado Gold writing conference this weekend. While I attended several productive workshops, I found a few to be especially informative, including one about sidekicks in fiction. With the…
We’ve all done it. The only place your characters can take refuge is in a spooky old house. Or is it a spooky, old house? Dang, what was that rule again? Fear not. I’m here to explain it for you.…
Originally posted on DAN ALATORRE:
I can’t take it! As a writer, you’re going to have moments of self-doubt – sometimes coming from people who are actually trying to help you. Recently, we discussed perseverance, HERE When my wife and…
The following is a reblog from David Rettig at Dandelion Sci-fi. The thing that really struck me about this exercise was that it could also be used to deepen areas of a plot. I’ve lost track of the times I’ve…
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…
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,…
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),…
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…
Cathleen Townsend 