You’re getting ready to write your novel or memoir. How do you decide which tense you should use: past or present? In the case of a novel, you also need to decide whether to write in first person or third. These are common dilemmas and ones worth exploring, because selecting the right tense and point of view from the start will save you getting stuck part-way into the writing, unable to make that choice work for the remainder of your story.
Read MoreDo You Torture Your Metaphors? The Problem of Self-Conscious Writing
Do you torture your metaphors, linking unlike things in outrageous comparisons? Do you manufacture odd phrases and invent “words” in an attempt to seem “literary” and “sound like a writer”? If so, you probably don’t even know you are doing this, yet the pretentious writing that results is one of the marks of an amateur writer.
Read MoreUsing Pull Quotes, Display Quotes, Block Quotes, and Epigraphs in Your Writing
Confused about how to use quotations in your manuscript? Here is a primer on the difference between pull quotes, display quotes, block quotes, and epigraphs.
Read MoreWriting a Memoir? Avoid These 7 Mistakes!
Know and avoid the seven most common mistakes of memoir writing.
Read MoreThe Lowdown on Appendixes/ Appendices
Sometimes nonfiction authors get confused about appendices: what they are, how to do them, when they are needed … and how to spell them! An appendix is supplementary material (usually an article, form, or list) that an author adds to the back of the book. It can be anything you want your readers to …
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