Every week I will demonstrate an example of poor English where a different word is used from the one intended. Sometimes this creates a grammatically incorrect sentence. Unfortunately, the mistake is usually so pervasive that we all do it and such errors are usually made by those who should know better – journalists working for national or global media outlets such as newspapers and television.
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Monthly Archives: July 2013
Oooh, You Tease! – A Joy of Editing
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As well as murdering my darlings in this current round of editing my novel, I’ve taken to teasing the reader and I feel the text is getting stronger for this. I’m getting a lot of pleasure in hinting about what is to come later in the book and I feel, so far, it is rather effective. But what exactly am I doing? And how am I doing it? Continue reading
Book Review: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
I tend to get a moment of heart sinking when I pick a book this size off of the shelf in a book shop and will generally put it straight back unless it comes highly recommended. Too many are 200 pages of story and 1200 pages of waffle. Thankfully, that is not an accusation you can level at Pillars of the Earth. It is surprisingly easy on the eye for a doorstep sized novel and after a false start in which I only read the prologue a few weeks back, I was surprised to find I flew through the first 150 pages over the course of about 3 hours or so. So far so good.
So what is it about? A period from England’s history that many people are unfamiliar with. Of course, those with more than a basic level of history will have heard of King Stephen and might know that he was a bit of a shit (Follett supports this popular view which contrasts Ellis Peters’ potrayal). Others with more in depth knowledge might accept him as a great General but a poor monarch. Most might know that he was involved in a civil war that could have ended up with our first Queen – and appointed legitimate heir of King Henry I – Empress Matilda/Maud.
Wrong Word Wednesday #9
Every week I will demonstrate an example of poor English where a different word is used from the one intended. Sometimes this creates a grammatically incorrect sentence. Unfortunately, the mistake is usually so pervasive that we all do it and such errors are usually made by those who should know better – journalists working for national or global media outlets such as newspapers and television.
Continue reading
Please send us a test article…
Writing for online content sites (or any other contractor) when you apply for a freelance writing role you will undoubtedly get emails along the lines of “we like the samples you have sent. However, as a test could you please send us one article in the region of 400 words on the subject of…”
Some of these are paid and I have no problem with this. However, I am usually concerned about those that expect a freebie as a test (and I received a request this afternoon for two such free “test” articles). My concern is that if they have 20 applicants and ask two articles from each candidate, they have 40 pieces of work that they haven’t paid for. Of course, we want to get hired so we might send it and eagerly await a response. Continue reading
Murdering your Darlings
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings” – Stephen King: On Writing
No I don’t mean that parents should kill unruly children despite what the Bible says. The term refers to having a ruthless approach to editing your fiction. No matter how much you cherish a passage, a section or an entire chapter, you must be prepared to let it go. Figuratively, not literally, I have taken a hacksaw to my novel this weekend and I am going to give it the most thorough edit it has ever had. Nothing will be safe: no chapter, no event and no character will be immune from the chop this time around. Continue reading
Good Reads Updates
Just a quick post to point out that I have now added The Weight of Reason to “Good Reads”. The link is here. So those of you who have been kind enough to buy and review can also add your reviews there.
Also, I now have a dedicated author page. No idea what I am going to do with it but at the moment there is a very feeble biography and the feed from this blog and not much else. If you want to add/follow me, please feel free to do so!
Link here. You can see what I am currently reading, my recent reviews and a list of my connections.
Wrong Word Wednesday #8
Every week I will demonstrate an example of poor English where a different word is used from the one intended. Sometimes this creates a grammatically incorrect sentence. Unfortunately, the mistake is usually so pervasive that we all do it and such errors are usually made by those who should know better – journalists working for national or global media outlets such as newspapers and television. Continue reading
Websites for writers: Powerthesaurus
What happens when you know what you want to say but the right word doesn’t come to mind? You need a thesaurus. There are many out there, a lot of glittery and some don’t stand up to quality checks. Basically – they have style but little substance.
A couple of weeks ago I was sent this useful little tool by somebody who stumbled upon my blog. Power Thesaurus might not look like much (and graphically it is very simple) but enter a word and you are presented with, actually, quite a lot of information. Continue reading
Competition Time!
Yes, I’m full of competitions at the moment as I am keen to get myself out there and established as a writer.
One of the job boards I look at regularly, though not that often because it usually just links to other sites that have jobs listed, is Freelancewriting.com. I’ve found it a useful general resource so far and have used the site for some advice.
At the weekend though, I discovered the Writing Contests section of the site. A lot of these have entrance fees (expressed in US dollars) but there are many.
Another competition resource for you anyway and it is now free (unlike Duotrope which this year has started to charge for its services).