Writing

Every writer needs to check facts, and these free research tools can help you get the job done quickly. Whether you’re writing fiction, nonfiction, online articles, or essays, the accuracy of your information, or even small story elements, always matters. Validated facts add precision and authority to whatever topic or theme you are covering in…

While the words may sound almost the same, an epigraph and epigram are different. They usually appear at the beginning of a book or novel, similar to a dedication page. An epigraph is a short text to set the theme or mood, but an epigram is often a satirical or clever remark. They are not…

Writers and authors are always looking for new ideas, and that’s where plot generators can help. Unlike a writing prompt, which gives you a starting point, plotting tools can give you a beginning, middle, and end. It’s like creating an outline of a story, but much faster than writing one yourself. Yes, writing a story…

Your writing voice is how you express yourself and your ideas in writing. It’s about your sentence structures, vocabulary choices, attitude, and even your personal views. Like speaking, it’s not about what you say, but how you say it. That’s what makes your voice unique. When you understand your voice and learn to accept and…

When you want to describe the sea or ocean in a novel, don’t write a report; write a scene. What’s the difference? “The sea was rough, and the wind was strong.” This is a report, not unlike a television weather report. Now, here’s a quick example of a scene. “Waves rose in jagged, angry white…

All you want to do is check your grammar and spelling, but many grammar tools now are so full of useless and over-the-top AI suggestions. Instead of making it easy to spot grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and typos, some try to rewrite your entire sentence or replace your style like a mind-reading robot. It’s really…

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,…