Mess these two words up, and you may be hitting the back space key. That all depends on what side of the Atlantic you’re on, though.

If in America, use backward, no “s”.

If in Britain, use backwards. Unless you’re using “backward” as an adjective, then use backward as in “The people of the north country revel in their backward ways.”

______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.