Writing

Is it a good idea to keep everything you write? Yes, definitely. Words have value, even if you might not think so at the time. What you might think is a failure today could be the germ of a terrific idea tomorrow. If you are a new, young writer, make it a habit to save…

What is fluff in writing? It is when you use words that add little or no value to a text for a reader. Fluff can be words and phrases that are off-topic, hard to understand, unclear, unnecessary, boring, or added only to increase the word count. Every writer uses a bit of fluff in the…

If you want to improve your writing, and who doesn’t, you can find lots of great advice online on how to be a better writer. Almost everything I read on the topic is true. Yes, improving your grammar knowledge, developing your writing voice, and honing your writing skills are all vital. But here’s a big…

If you like to write on the move, you can find plenty of phone apps that are handy tools for writers. You’re not going to write a whole novel on your phone. But you can use your phone to add a few paragraphs while traveling or waiting around. As a writer, you also want to…

Yes, using too many weak, poor, or bad adverbs can be a sign of lazy writing. But as a part of speech, adverbs have their place. You can’t write without them. The problem arises when you use too many weak or poor adverbs that have better alternatives. When you learn to identify these problem adverbs,…

If you are a writer, I’m sure you have a list of words to avoid in your writing. They might be words you use too often, by habit, or that you know are weak or vague. Writing is not as easy as it seems. For new writers, it takes time to realize that certain words…

Is it possible to write a book on an iPad? The short answer is yes, you can, but it might not be the choice for every author. However, if you want the convenience and advantages of being able to write anywhere, anytime, it could be for you. An iPad is a wonderful tool, but can…

What are sticky sentences and glue words in writing? They are sentences that use too many unnecessary words, especially transition words and conjunctions. When this happens, it can dilute your writing, making it difficult to read and understand and weakening the overall impact. While transition words and conjunctions are essential for connecting ideas and creating…

A plain text editor is one of the most useful tools for any writer or blogger. The most popular are TextEdit for Mac and Notepad for PC. Both are default applications, so you already have one of them. But for many writers, using a word processor such as Microsoft Word or Apple Pages is always the…