Category «Style»

Only talented writers sell (Mistake #50)

There are a lot of perfectly competent but otherwise fairly unremarkable writers earning a decent living from words. There are a few poor writers getting by as well. If you’re scratching your head, unconvinced, thinking that you rarely see average or poor writing in print, I have to declare a possible unfair advantage over you …

Not reading (Mistake #25)

If one more new writer tells me he has twenty hours a week to spare to write but “I don’t have the time to read!” I may ask to be shut away somewhere dark for a bit to wail until rescued. Any naughty middle-aged ladies out there want to stroke me, pick me up – …

Loose brackets (Mistake #13)

So: round brackets, properly known as parentheses. What are they used for? * to offer the reader an aside (which is a thoughtful thing to do); * to give an unimportant piece of information (in which only a few readers may be interested); * to offer extra information (such as a fuller explanation of a …

Thinking Writing is All Writing (Mistake #2)

Yes, writers write. But writers do a lot, lot more. You have to feed your writing. From where do writers obtain that fuel? Writers read. I’ll be returning to this subject, as it’s so important, but it’s a huge mistake to not read. Often I’m amazed when people tell me they want to write for …