Check out this site! It is amazing for giving prompts for all types of writing—fiction, nonfiction, poetry…anything!
Tag: novel
A dash of Em— A dash of En–
[found on makeuseof.com]
“Stop avoiding dashes in your writing just because you don’t know how to type them outside of word processors. Learn the proper keyboard shortcuts and you can type these essential parts of the English language in basic text editors, browsers and anywhere else you may need them. The en dash (–) is my favorite piece of punctuation–it’s perfect for inserting points, like this one–but I’ve been neglecting it in my writing for a couple of years, for a really dumb reason. What’s my dumb reason? I’ve stopped using Word and Open/Libre Office. I know their shortcut for an em dash–type two dashes between two words and they will transform once you type a space after the second word. I stopped using word processors when I started writing for the Internet, however, because they add a bunch of nonsense code to my writing. But outside programs with their own shortcut, I never got around to learning how to write em or en dashes. This means the text editors and browsers I now do my writing in are dashless wastelands. There are online tools for creating em dashes, and I’ve resorted to Googling “en dash” and copying the resulting punctuation, though Not anymore. I’m going to stop restructuring sentences out of laziness, and I’m going to help you do so as well. Here’s how to make your favorite punctuation on your favorite operating system. Keep reading!Create Em and En Dashes On A Mac!
First up: the easy one. Apple’s operating system OS X comes with a couple of keyboard shortcuts that make typing em and en dash a snap.- For an en dash (–), use “Option” and “-”.
- For an em dash (—), use “Option”, “Shift” and “-”.
Create Em and En Dashes on Windows!
Windows users can easily make an em dash if they’re using Word: just type two dashes between two words, as I explained above. Outside of Word, however, the story is different: you need to use four digit alt codes. You’re going to need a keyboard with a number pad for this–the block of numbers to the right of the arrow keys:
Laptops without physical number pads can occasionally use the “Fn” key and some letter keys instead of a number keypad–search your keyboard for blue numbers. Lacking that, you may be out of luck.
- To create you dash, first put your cursor where you’d like it and hold down the “Alt” button. Now you need to type a four digit code:
- 0150 for the en dash (–)
- 0151 for the em dash (—).”
[found on http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/type-em-en-dashes-word-processor]
Share this:
We don’t need no stinkin’ italics!
[found on grammar.quickanddirtytips.com]
Did you know…when you italicize a word or phrase, the following punctuation should NOT be in italics?Here are some more fun facts:
“…a medium-sized list of things you probably should italicize. Just be sure to double-check the style guide you’re supposed to use, as rules vary. Here goes:- foreign words not yet assimilated into English—more on that later;
- legal citations;
- letters of the alphabet when you’re referring to them as letters;
- scientific names;
- titles of works, including books, plays, short stories, very long poems, newspapers, and magazines;
- titles of movies and radio and television series;
- names of operas and long musical compositions;
- and names of paintings and sculptures (1).
- You might also be asked to italicize the names of famous speeches, the titles of pamphlets, the names of vehicles (such as Challenger), and words used as words (2).”
[found on http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-use-italics.aspx]
Share this:
Bitter writer? Or Better writer?
[found on goinswriter.com]
“Anyone who writes is a writer, but that doesn’t mean they’re a very good one. So let’s talk about how to become a better writer. We’ll begin with the basics — here are seven key lessons:
- Writing is simple, but not easy.
- Before you get a larger audience, you have to get better.
- Practice makes you better; it’s the repetitions that make it effortless.
- Until you put your work out there, you’re only screwing around. Write for real.
- You can’t practice without discipline. Keep showing up and persevering.
- There will always be resistance; type through it, anyway.
- Get over your excuses and do the work.”
[found on http://goinswriter.com/writing-tips]
Share this:
George Orwell Asks Before Writing…Do You?
[found on writingclasses.com]
“A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:
- What am I trying to say?
- What words will express it?
- What image or idiom will make it clearer?
- Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
And he will probably ask himself two more:
- Could I put it more shortly?
- Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.”
[found on http://www.writingclasses.com/InformationPages/index.php/PageID/300]**
Share this:
Ending Soon: Publishing Package CONTEST!!!!!
There’s not much time left to enter!
A Book’s Mind is having a Back Cover Battle! WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO??- Write your book’s summary.
- Submit it.
- You could win a Basic Publishing Package!
HURRY! The contest ends June 15th!
Make sure and tell A Book’s Mind that Editing Addict sent you!
Our ABM coupon code is B012.
Share this:
Trouble Your Readers Effectively
“The Inciting Incident as a Trigger
The inciting incident is the crucial event—the trouble—that sets the whole story in motion. It triggers the initial surface problem and starts to slowly expose the protagonist’s story-worthy problem. Now, the protagonist won’t fully realize the extent of his story-worthy problem in the opening scene, so the initial surface problem has to be so compelling that it forces him to take immediate action. The protagonist’s understanding of his story-worthy problem, then, will grow clearer to him as a direct result of what he goes through in his journey to resolve it.Also keep in mind that each of the protagonist’s attempts to resolve the initial and subsequent surface problems must end in failure. There can be partial victories, but once an action ends in success, the story is effectively over. Success, in this case, means that all the problems are resolved. That cannot happen until the final scene of the story. So, if we were to broadly outline the shape of a publishable story—the inciting incident and all its intertwined surface and story-worthy problems—it would look something like this:
- The inciting incident creates the character’s initial surface problem and introduces the first inklings of the story-worthy problem.
- The protagonist takes steps to resolve the initial surface problem.
- The outcome of the major action the protagonist takes to resolve the initial surface problem is revealed, triggering a new surface problem. The scope of the protagonist’s story-worthy problem continues to unfold.
- The outcome of the major action the protagonist takes to resolve the additional surface problem is revealed, and yet another surface problem is created. The story-worthy problem continues to become more apparent to the protagonist, as well as to the reader.
- Another outcome is revealed, and more surface problems are created. The story-worthy problem continues to become clearer.
- All lingering surface problems are resolved, and the story-worthy problem is fully realized. The resolution of the story-worthy problem is represented by both a win and a loss for the protagonist…..”
-found on http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/write-fiction-that-grabs-readers-from-page-one
Share this:
Enquire or not to Inquire
[found on dailywritingtips.com]
“These are two spellings of the same word, which means to seek information about something or to conduct a formal investigation (usually when followed by “into”). The corresponding noun is enquiry or inquiry.
Either spelling can be used, but many people prefer enquire and enquiry for the general sense of “ask”, and inquire and inquiry for a formal investigation:
- I enquired his name
- The first enquiry in my inbox today was about lost property.
- We are going to inquire into the incident.
- The lawyers asked when the inquiry will be completed.”
Editing Addict, LLC 