Writing

Poor or repetitive vocabulary choices can get on a reader’s nerves, with literally and actually being possibly the two worst offenders. While both adverbs have a limited use for additional emphasis or clarifying facts, they have gradually become overused and unnecessary exaggerations. You come across these two words frequently on social media, as well as…

To be honest, the terms filtering in writing and filter verbs were new to me. I came across the terms in a few Reddit posts, which made me curious. When I understood the concept, the best I could relate it to was the idea of show, don’t tell, and narrative distance. But as a contemporary…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is with us now, so there’s no turning back. But how do you know if what you read online, or even offline, is human or AI-generated? On top of that, even if you write every word of a text yourself, could your writing be flagged as AI text? Problems associated with determining…

When you need to describe silence in writing, it can be a little bit challenging. How do you explain something you can’t see or touch? Added to this is that silence not only means quiet. It can also mean peace, unease, awe, or even fear or dread. Finding better ways to say it was quiet,…

Almost everyone is familiar now with AI (artificial intelligence) and its ability to provide answers, create images, and even videos. For writers, however, the ability of AI to produce text is the most worrisome. All it takes is a quick prompt, and it can output 1,000 words on any topic in seconds. Naturally, this creates…

Homophones and homonyms can often cause confusion for writers, but born and borne is one of the extreme examples. With words that sound the same, especially in fixed expressions, you usually have a right and wrong choice. However, in this case, both are 100% correct, but you need to choose based on the context of…

You probably use this structure in your writing occasionally but don’t realize it has a name. It’s the causative. It lets you show the influence of one character over another, such as for control, persuasion, or cooperation. While it’s a relatively simple structure, it has many uses and forms that can add extra depth and…

The first draft of a short story, novel, or even an article or poem is only for you. Terry Pratchett once said, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” It doesn’t matter if you are a plotter and work with an outline or a panster (a writer who flies by the seat…

One of the most powerful tools a writer possesses is the ability to craft word order. Sure, you might think that grammar rules control most aspects, but this is not entirely true. Apart from some standard rules, such as subject-verb-object (SVO), as a writer, you have plenty of options to rearrange words to suit your…

What your characters say in fiction drives your story, but you have two ways to do it. You can use dialogue or reported speech. Active dialogue is the most common. “You never listen to me!” she shouted. However, you can also use reported speech to summarize a character’s words quickly. She told him he had…