It’s cold outside, and, well, I’m in a bit of a mood—the subjunctive mood, that is.
You see, if it were July, we could take a stroll in the park without freezing our tails off. If I were a pilot, I’d fly us to the Bahamas for some fun in the sun. Better yet, I wish I were the Human Torch, so I could be nice and toasty year round . . . (more…)
Hi, fun nation! (See what I did there?) Today, we’re boldly going where no other punctuation mark dares to go, where lasting connections are forged or relentlessly torn asunder—to the jurisdiction of the mighty hyphen.
In modern English, the hyphen seems to pop up all over the place, so it can be hard to keep track of all the nuances of its use. Thus, for your convenience, I have compiled a list of the hyphen’s favorite hangouts, complete with examples and short explanations of why it hangs out there: (more…)
With over fifty novels to his name, almost two hundred short stories, and scores of adaptations into movies, TV shows, comic books, and even musicals, Stephen King is arguably the most prolific and successful American author. Period. His most recent work, Mr. Mercedes, published June of this year, is the first of a prospective trilogy, and the sequel, Finders Keepers, is slated for release next year. As if that weren’t enough, King has announced yet another novel, Revival, scheduled for publication this November. With all of that fiction-writing and industry experience, it’s safe to say that the man has learned a thing or two about writing. Luckily for us aspiring writers, King imparts this gritty, practical wisdom in his memoir, On Writing. (more…)
The en dash is a sorely misunderstood mark of punctuation. In my experience, the poor bugger rarely sees the light of day, and when it does, it’s oft misused. Time and time again, I see manuscripts with hyphens in place of en dashes and en dashes in place of em dashes (which technically isn’t wrong, but more on that later). Thus, I’m going to try my hardest to do right by the underappreciated en dash by sharing with you the conventions of its use. Here we go. (more…)
The pronoun is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it offers variety and freshness—a break from the monotony of names. To illustrate, here’s a sentence without pronouns:
Phew! Exhausting, right? Using ‘he’ and ‘it’ a few times would work wonders for that sentence. (more…)
Whether it’s performed by a peer, a professional, or the author, editing is by far the most crucial stage of the writing process. It’s the only way to ensure high quality and optimum readability. (more…)