5 Grammar Hacks for Writers Who Hate Grammar

5 Grammar Hacks for Writers Who Hate Grammar

I see this in comments on The Write Practice all the time. “I want to be a writer, but I know nothing about grammar.” I don’t have a degree in English or Journalism, either.

I am, though, a writer. For those of you who have decided you are a writer too, you don’t need a degree in English or be an expert in grammar. There are a few grammar hacks I’ve learned that have helped me.

How to Organize Writing Feedback so You Can Rewrite With Confidence

How to Organize Writing Feedback so You Can Rewrite With Confidence

If you’re a writer, you’ve probably received feedback. While some writing feedback is easily processed (like quick compliments), the best feedback takes time and energy to deal with. Receiving a flood of critiques can feel good at first. But after reading a deluge of opinions and observations and judgments, it can get really overwhelming.

Here’s how to organize the feedback you receive so you can approach the next draft with confidence!

Revolutionize Your Story’s Point of View With Free Indirect Style

Revolutionize Your Story’s Point of View With Free Indirect Style

Point of view is the vehicle that drives a story. Get it right, and your novel hums along smoothly and your reader never notices.

Get it wrong, however, and your book becomes an unbearable clunker rife with confusion.

Shawn Coyne, author of The Story Grid, has read a lot of critically acclaimed and successful books, and noticed something about their point of view. All of these books used a specific style of narration, and you can use it too.

How to Avoid Clichés (Like the Plague)

How to Avoid Clichés (Like the Plague)

We’re on the verge of summer, and that means I’m attending graduations (including my oldest son’s). Whether you are attending one for a friend or family member or yourself, commencement ceremonies are a great place for inspiration and one other thing: cliché-hunting.

Clichés are overused phrases or metaphors that weaken our writing. As writers, we want to hunt down, drag out, and kill clichés in our writing. (I know, the killing metaphor is also probably cliché. I’m still working on it.) Here are some ideas for how to avoid clichés in our writing.