Tag: #ToolsEA

Contractions Have Their Place

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2015.09.20 quotescover-JPG-17 contractions

Grammar Girl has an amazing article describing the history, use, and suggestions regarding contractions: “Use contractions in formal writing if it will sound stranger to avoid them than to use them.”

The Chicago Manual of Style says, “Most types of writing benefit from the use of contractions. If used thoughtfully, contractions in prose sound natural and relaxed and make reading more enjoyable.”

Do you remember the character Data from Star Trek? He could not use any form of contraction. Ever. And it set him apart as a non-human. Don’t do that to your writing. Make sure your reader knows there is a human behind the words. Don’t overdo it. There ain’t no reason to sound uneducated in your struggle of pen and paper.

Mistakes Writers Make

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Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do)

In her article, Patricia Holt hits all the major mistakes writers [new and old] make. The fixes are EASY to grasp. Read up!

  1. REPEATS
  2. FLAT WRITING
  3. EMPTY ADVERBS
  4. PHONY DIALOGUE
  5. NO-GOOD SUFFIXES
  6. “TO BE” WORDS
  7. LISTS
  8. SHOW, DON’T TELL
  9. AWKWARD PHRASING
  10. COMMAS

Follow Me, True Reader

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Daily fix to use IMG_5088
[image found on Google, not property of EditingAddict.com]

 

“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.

Now listen.

I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings.

It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony.

I use short sentences.

And I use sentences of medium length.

And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”

— Gary Provost

 

Updated: Grammar Suppliers Page — Tools for Authors & Writers

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GRAMMAR SUPPLIERS

STYLE GUIDES

GRAMMAR A+ REFRESHERS

GRAMMAR REFRESHERS:
GRAMMAR TIPS:

GRAMMAR BOOKS

GRAMMAR CHECKERS

GRAMMAR & SPELLING:
WRITING COMPREHENSIVE:

GRAMMAR HELP & CHEERLEADERS

WRITER ENCOURAGEMENT:
CREATIVE WRITING:
MINDMAPPING:

GRAMMAR WORD-FIND

DICTIONARIES & THESAURUSES:
SEARCHES & RESEARCH:

GENRE-SPECIFIC INTERESTS

ALL BOOKS:
BIOGRAPHY:
FICTION:
MAGAZINES (Online):
POETRY:
SONG:

PUBLISHING & MARKETING AIDS

EXPANDING YOUR AUDIENCE:
PROPOSALS & QUERIES:
PUBLISHERS:
WRITER TRAINING:

WRITING GROUPS & TEAMS

 

Grammar Bomb: Whose VS Who’s

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When do you use WHOSE and when do you use WHO’S?

#GrammarBombEA

 

Whose [THINK: possessive]
Who’s [THINK: contraction (‘)]

 

“Whose and who’s are commonly confused terms because they sound alike. Luckily, the distinction between them is relatively straightforward.

“Who’s is a contraction of who is or who has…”

“…whose is a possessive pronoun….”

[read more about it on blog.dictionary.com]

Motivation IS Possible

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[found on time.com; by Eric Barker]

 

“You make goals… but then you procrastinate.

You write a to-do list… but then you don’t follow through.

And this happens again and again and again. Seriously, what’s the problem?

Why are we so good at thinking of what to do but so terrible at actually doing those things?

The problem is you’re skipping an essential step. Here’s what it is….

Productivity systems rarely take emotions into account. And feelings are a fundamental and unavoidable part of why humans do what they do.

We can’t ignore our emotions. Because of the way our brains are structured, when thought and feelings compete, feelings almost always win.

And we can’t fight our feelings. Research shows this just makes them stronger….

We need to think to plan but we need to feel to act.

So if you’ve got the thinking part out of the way – how do you rile up those emotions and get things done?

 

Get Positive
When do we procrastinate the most? When we’re in a bad mood.
 
Get Rewarded
Rewards feel good. Penalties feel bad. And that’s why they both can work well for motivating you.
 
Research shows that rewards are responsible for three-quarters of why you do things.
 
Get Peer Pressure
Surround yourself with people you want to be and it’s far less taxing to do what you should be doing.”

 

To read the rest of the motivating article from Eric Barker, and add his knowledge to your toolbox, click HERE.

 

[found on http://time.com/2933971/how-to-motivate-yourself-3-steps-backed-by-science/]