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Sometimes we just need a little inspiration or encouragement to write – those times when we’re uncertain if the novel we’re working on is any good, the times when writer’s block holds us down. Here are some great tips to stoke your creativity (click the linked title for the full article): • I am a successful…

Science fiction stories typically arise from a novum, a scientifically plausible concept that is a “reality” in the tale. The novum might be an mechanical device like robot servants, artificial intelligence, or faster-than-light spacecraft; it also can be a hypothetical idea such as “The Earth is a scientific experiment run by aliens to determine the meaning of…

• How to establish your own writer’s voice Every writer has his own voice. But some writers – especially beginners – sound flat and all too similar. Some would say those writers haven’t found “their” voice yet, and there’s some truth to that. But more likely the problem is they haven’t fully mastered the craft of writing.…

“I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.” – E. B. White “Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper.” – Ray Bradbury “Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to…

Sometimes there just isn’t a rule for a grammar dilemma. Such is the case with driver side vs. driver’s side. Either form is quite common and acceptable in writing. Such is the case with other similar constructions, such as dog collar vs. dog’s collar and passenger side vs. passenger’s side. No doubt the reason driver’s side and passenger’s side sound like they may be wrong is because the word following…

Science fiction stories typically arise from a novum, a scientifically plausible concept that is a “reality” in the tale. The novum might be an mechanical device like robot servants, artificial intelligence, or faster-than-light spacecraft; it also can be a hypothetical idea such as “The Earth is a scientific experiment run by aliens to determine the meaning of…

Anytime you write an academic paper or a nonfiction book, you likely will need to quote your sources, especially when they make their point in a powerful, evocative way. Should the quote be lengthy, you may need to typographically set it apart as a block quotation so that it is easy to read. A block quotation is a…

“A simple act of putting on clothes is almost impossible for me to describe without many false starts.” – Eudora Welty “First, cut out all the wisdom, then cut out all the adjectives.” – Somerset Maugham “One tends to write beyond what’s needed.” – James Schuyler “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.”…

Sometimes when typing or formatting a manuscript in Microsoft Word, to indicate a change of scenes, you might center a group of three to five asterisks between paragraphs. Then you hit return.  And the darndest thing happens: The asterisks turn to a whole line of them, and no matter what you do – highlight and delete them,…

Adverse and averse often are confused because both imply something negative while sounding very similar. But as with the way these words are spelled, so there also is a subtle difference in their meanings. Adverse means unfavorable or harmful, as in Mary suffered an adverse reaction to the medication. Averse means strongly dislikes or opposes, as in A lifelong Republican, Sam…