Having to choose between that and which is one of those tricky little grammar rules that used to trip me up constantly as I wrote. To spare you the same aggravation, I'm sharing the words' definitive usage guidelines: 1. That That is used solely in restrictive clauses, meaning it introduces specific, essential information in a sentence. As a general rule of thumb, ...
April 25, 2008 READ MORE
Good Discussion Makes Good Writing
I can remember back to a creative writing class I took in college. It was the first round-table discussion writing class I ever took, and had I known ahead of time that each one of my classmates would read and critique my work each time an assignment was due, I probably would have never signed up in the first place. See, I was comfortable writing for the eyes of my teache...
April 21, 2008 READ MORE
As I missed my international flight home to Houston from Trinidad today, I was suddenly struck with an inspiration. Writers can find their muse anywhere at any time. Now, you may be wondering why being stuck at a foreign airport alone with absolutely no money and no lay of the land could inspire this thought in my mind. But just think about it. I’m sitting here, computer...
April 21, 2008 READ MORE
The thing about the English language is that when it can, it defies most of the rules. The “rules” are so loose that they’re more like guidelines or suggestions – and a lot of people out there want to give you their interpretation of the language. There’s the Associated Press Stylebook, New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, Chicago Manual of Style, Strunk and...
April 13, 2008 READ MORE
This week we have some advice passed on to me from best-selling author Karleen Koen. Your assignment: Write something, anything, every morning. No need for prompts like those we gave you in a recent post. No, this exercise is completely freestyle. Keep Your Mind and Fingers Nimble Every Day As a writer, even if you aren’t working on a particular p...
April 8, 2008 READ MORE