DWT Poetry Competition: Second Semi-Final

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In the Last Throes

An amusing egg-corn that has just appeared on my radar is that of writing in the throes of as "in the throws of."

2 2024-12-03 08:51 查看原文

How Spelling Diverges Between American and British English

As George Bernard Shaw is said to have said, “England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” It’s easy enough to find books and Web

3 2024-11-29 11:54 查看原文

Ever and Never

Ever and never are adverbs employed in strictly defined ways. Here are the parameters of usage for the two terms.

1 2024-11-28 19:18 查看原文

3 Cases of Superfluous Semicolons

Semicolons serve one of two purposes: A semicolon can act as a weak period to separate two independent clauses so closely associated that dividing them into

3 2024-11-27 08:25 查看原文

Metaphorical Usage and Scare Quotes

Writers often mistakenly believe they are being helpful when, in the act of using a word or phrase in a nonliteral sense, they frame the term in quotation

1 2024-11-29 09:55 查看原文

3 Common Types of Phrasal-Adjective Hyphenation Errors

One of the most ubiquitous categories of error in written composition is failure to provide a visual clue to readers that two or more words preceding a noun

1 2024-11-27 14:35 查看原文

3 Cases of Missing Parenthetical Punctuation

In each of the following examples, a complementary comma that provides closure for a parenthetical phrase is missing. Discussion after each sentence explains

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3 Types of Solutions with Semicolons

In each of the following sentences, a structural flaw is easily repaired by use of one or more semicolons in place of one or more commas. Discussion and

2 2024-11-28 16:24 查看原文

5 Categories of Unnecessary Scare Quotes

Each of the sentences in this post demonstrates a distinct example of superfluous use of quotation marks to call attention to a word or phrase. The discussion

1 2024-12-16 22:16 查看原文

3 Types of Superfluous Use of Semicolons

Proper use of semicolons is sometimes seen as such a challenge that some teachers of composition recommend not using them until one develops a more

1 2024-11-30 10:06 查看原文

The Right Climate

With some words, a single letter can completely change the meaning. Take the letter 'c' and the words climactic and climatic. There's not much difference in

1 2024-11-28 08:48 查看原文

How to Write a Great Blog Post

Blog posts might look straightforward, but if you’ve ever tried to write one, you may have found it was harder than you expected.

1 2024-11-27 14:34 查看原文

Rifle vs. Riffle

A reader has a question about the verbs rifle and riffle in relation to papers:

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Punctuating Appositives

A reader requests clarification on the punctuation of appositives:

2 2024-11-30 04:47 查看原文

What the heck are "learnings"?

Reader Paul wonders about

1 2024-11-30 20:11 查看原文

The Language Police

Lovers of language and literature, especially those with children or grandchildren still in Grades K-12, will find The Language Police by education historian

2 2024-12-24 04:55 查看原文

Five Reasons Why Blogging Leads to Writing Jobs

Daily Writing Tips has already covered Five reasons why blogging improves your writing. But once you’ve polished up your skills, and grown used to writing

1 2024-11-29 09:54 查看原文

25+ Pieces of Writing Software You Should Know About

Of course, all you really need in order to write is a notebook and pen. But there are lots of software packages that can make life easier for writers.

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Minimise Distractions When Writing: 4 Practical Tips

Perhaps you’ve managed to get into the habit of writing every day, but you’ve also acquired the distraction habit. You sit down at your computer, fire up your

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Slink, Shrink, and Wink

Last week I found the word slinked in manuscripts submitted by two different members of my writers’ group. In both mss I drew a wavy line under it to

1 2024-11-29 04:04 查看原文