I teach writing courses at a university, and I’m sometimes astonished that my students submit stories that contain spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes. I realize they’re learning to write and that they, therefore, make mistakes—that’s why they’re called students. But the amazing part is that...
Typography refers to the design, readability, arrangement, legibility, and appeal of fonts, line spacing, arrangement, and appearance of symbols, letters, and numbers. It is a crucial element that authors and writers sometimes overlook; however, it is important to the reader. Typography has an impact on...
Having read hundreds of books and written many reviews, I’ve realized that there are some things that authors may not consider as being important enough to include in a novel. Apart from the plot, characters, disclaimer, copyright, etc., there are some other options that either...
When I worked in journalism there was one principle that was so important that we never talked about it. Does that sound like an oxymoron? If it was important wouldn’t we have talked about it all the time? No, because it was just assumed—always—that news...
There are many ways to write articles but for the purpose of this exercise, we will use a generic system for writing basic articles.
What is an article? An article is a written document covering any subject that would be of interest to a large audience...
A common problem I’ve noticed in the modern writing world is the idea of figurative language. Figurative language is essentially writing in a such a way where the words mean something more than their actual meanings. It’s an art form; it requires subtlety, craftsmanship, and...
Have you ever watched a singing show like The Voice or American Idol? If you’re an American, I’m sure you have, at least accidentally. Every season seems to have at least one (sometimes several) artist that puts runs at the end of every line, or...
This is the first in a series of articles I’ll be writing on traditional poetic forms, and how they might be modernized. When you think of an ode, what form do you picture? Is it the Horatian style of Pope’s Ode on Solitude, the swinging...
Most writers are familiar with the six journalistic questions. The first four are who, what, when, and where. Every writer, whether they write fiction or nonfiction, needs to answer these questions in every story or book.
As a practical matter, writers almost always do answer them...
Today, I’m writing about two devices many poets struggle with; rhyme and meter. Both concepts have for the most part been abandoned in modern poetry, but both can still be productive and effective when used correctly. Poetry is all about voice and word choice; rhyme...
