I’m enjoying our Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S., in honor of which I share this neat infographic from one of my favorite sources, the History channel.
Q&A: What to make of those -ic and -ical suffixes
Hi, Kristen— What about the usage of terms such as: Historic vs historical Geologic vs geological Biologic vs biological etc.? Thanks, —John Great question, John! Odd pair of suffixes, those, and between them they form a mountain of adjectives that may or may not differ in meaning.
When to use single or double quotation marks
Considering that the rules for quotation marks are relatively simple (I mean, compared to something really complicated like the comma), it’s surprising how often we see errors with them. In dialog, stuff that’s said aloud goes in quotation marks. “I can’t believe she said that.” (Stuff that’s not said aloud …
Fiction Q&A: Using italics for character thoughts
Hey Kristen — Sorry to pester you, but I didn’t know who else to ask. I was going over a critique someone gave me, and they mentioned that top editors teach to never use italics, even with internal thought. Some say never to use italics at all. Here’s my concern. …
The ‘rules’ about exclamation points
Much advice about the use of exclamation points in fiction comes in the guise of “rules.” I’ve heard several: Never use exclamation points. You may use one exclamation point per book. Only use an exclamation point if the character is shouting. By now you know me well enough to know …
New marketing podcast for novelists
My Rating: ★★★★★ Thomas Umstattd of Author Media teamed up with author James L Rubart, owner of Barefoot Marketing, to produce a great new podcast: Novel Marketing. Within the first hour or so of walking into any writers conference, you’ll hear someone complain about marketing. People bemoan the loss of …
How to write a book if you’re not a writer
Many people feel they ought to write a book, or they’re told by other people they ought to write a book, but when they sit down to write…nothing. Writing is often called a craft, and it is something most people learn to do competently. I find that businesspeople, especially, are …
Use Excel spreadsheets to organize writing projects
Novelists are often advised to keep a story timeline, especially for complicated plots. But if your plot gets too complex, or you have multiple storylines going on, you may need more than a linear list in Word or on a notepad. I started creating my timelines in Excel years ago, …
Use styles to keep your manuscript in order
We all want our documents to look good. Here are some advanced techniques to make sure your manuscript is not only good-looking, but orderly, whether you’re submitting traditionally or self-publishing. The first thing to remember is that your manuscript needs to be edited before it’s designed, so save the design …
The best times to post to social media
Q: I belong to a bunch of social media networks, including Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google+. When is the best time of day to post my content if I want to get noticed? A: I have no idea. So I’ll turn this answer over to the folks at fannit.com, who …