Welcome!
This page provides an alphabetized list of previously posted material that might be helpful to anyone teaching writing or learning to write. They’ve been divided into categories for easy referencing.
This page is a work in progress and will be regularly updated as we publish more articles.
Business Writing
Fiction Writing
- Character: How to Create Interesting Characters
- Creative Writing: All Writing Is Creative
- The Heroic Journey 1: Every Story is the Same Old Story
- The Heroic Journey 2: The Journey
- The Heroic Journey 3: The Hero’s Goals
- The Heroic Journey 4: The Hero’s Traits
- The Heroic Journey 5: The Hero’s Inner Journey
- The Heroic Journey 6: The Nemesis
- The Heroic Journey 7: The Traits of the Nemesis
- The Heroic Journey 8: The Structure of Story
- The Heroic Journey 9: Heroes Change
- The Heroic Journey 10: The Premise
- The Heroic Journey 11: Finding the Premise
- The Heroic Journey 12: Story Telling and Shrek
- The Heroic Journey 13: Plot Structure
- The Heroic Journey 14: The Call to Adventure
- The Heroic Journey 15: The Shape of Your Hero
- The Heroic Journey 16: Stage Two
- The Heroic Journey 17: The First Reversal
- The Heroic Journey 18: Plot Stage Three
- The Heroic Journey 19: The Point of No Return
- The Heroic Journey 20: Outer Journey
- The Hook: How to Hook Your Reader
- In Medias Res: Start in the Middle
- Plot: The Plot Diagram
- Point of View
- Rules for Storytelling by Pixar
Figures of Speech
Grammar and Usage
- Adjectives: Funner and Funnest?
- Adjectives: Comparatives and Superlatives
- Adjectives: Parallel Comparisons
- Adverbs: Conjunctive Adverbs
- Articles: A, An, The
- But It Doesn’t Sound Right
- Can Grammar Be Bad?
- Complements, Sentence
- Conjunctive Adverbs and Why They Matter
- Double Negatives
- Equivocal Plurals
- Fragments and Run-ons: The Comma Splice
- Fragments and Run-ons
- Garden Path Sentences
- Grammar Myth: Ending Sentences with Prepositions
- Grammar Myth: Starting Sentences with Because
- Grammar Myth: Never Write in Fragments
- Grammar Myth: Passive Voice Is Always Wrong
- Grammar Myth: Starting Sentences with And or But
- Grammar Snobs
- Modifiers: Using Adjectives and Adverbs
- “More Than Me” or “More Than I?”
- “More Than Me” in the Bible
- Nouns: Abstract and Concrete
- Nouns: Definition (video)
- Nouns: Rules for Plural Nouns
- Parallelism
- Phrases and Clauses
- Prepositions: Ending Sentences with
- Preposition or Adverb?
- Prepositions: Redundant
- Prepositions: Superfluous
- Prepositions: to Memorize or Not to Memorize?
- Pronouns: Can “They” or “Their” Be Singular?
- Pronouns: Gender and Sexism
- Pronouns: Mistakes to Avoid
- Pronouns: That, Which or Who?
- Pronouns: There, Their, and They’re
- Pronouns: When Not to Use “Myself”
- Pronouns: Who or Whom?
- Pronouns: Who’s and Whose
- Pronouns That Don’t Exist
- Subject-Verb Agreement, Part 1
- Subject-Verb Agreement, Part 2
- Subject-Verb Agreement, Part 3
- Top Ten Grammar Errors
- Verbals
- Verbal Phrases
- Verbs: Active and Passive Voice (video)
- Verbs: The 5 Verb Forms
- Verbs: Memorizing Linking Verbs (video)
- Verbs: Shifting Verb Tenses
- Verbs: Transitive Verbs and Why They Matter
Graphics
- 100 Ways to Say “Said”
- 200 Ways to Say “Went”
- 250 Ways to Say “Went”
- Animal Group Names
- Editing Redundancy
- End Marks
- Homophones, Homographs, Homonyms Venn Diagram
- Oxford Comma Debate
- Proofreading Checklist for Essays
- Pronoun Mistakes to Avoid
- Punctuation: Comma Rules
- Punctuation: Semicolon
- Weasel Words
- Words of the Year
- Writing and the Brain
- The Writing Process
Idioms
- “A Whole Nuther Thing”
- Baseball Idioms
- Basketball Idioms
- Body Parts Idioms
- Boot Idioms
- “Boots on the Ground”
- “Close-Minded” or “Closed-Minded”?
- Commonly Misexpressed Expressions
- “Could” or “Couldn’t Care Less?”
- Football Idioms
- “Going Forward”
- “Hat Trick”
- Have My Cake and Eat It Too
- “It’s Complicated”
- “Just Sayin’”
- “Like“
- “Moot Point” not “Mute Point”
- “My Bad”
- “OK”
- On Accident/By Accident
- “Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop”
- X-mas
Literary Analysis
Mechanics
- Camel Case
- Capitalization Rules
- Paragraphs: When to Start
- Paragraphs: How Many Sentences in a Paragraph?
- Spacing: One or Two Spaces after a Period?
- Titles: When to Punctuate
- Titles: When NOT to Punctuate
Miscellaneous
- 3 Keys to Improved Writing
- 4 Tips for Better Proofreading
- American vs. British English
- Animal Group Names
- Creative Writing: All Writing Is Creative
- Description and Narration
- Denotation and Connotation
- Evaluating Online Information
- Getting Started
- Heteronyms
- How DO You Teach Writing?
- How to Point out Errors Without Being Obnoxious
- Ignorant Grammar Cops
- Is There Such a Thing as a Grammar Error?
- Orphan Negatives
- Overusing “Like”
- Portmanteau Words
- Prewriting Strategies
- Proofreading
- Proofreading Checklist for Essays
- Reading and Writing Skills
- Redundancy 1: Tautology
- Redundancy 2: Pleonasm
- Redundancy 3: When It’s Okay
- Redundancy 4: Scesis Onomaton
- Rules are Made to Be Broken
- The Importance of Practice
- “Their Head” or “Their Heads”?
- Words Commonly Mispronounced
- Words of the Year
- Writer’s Block
- Writing and the Brain
- The Writing Process
- Verbing/Verbification
Printable:
Punctuation
- Comma Rules: When to Use Commas
- Comma Rules: When Not to Use Commas
- End Marks
- Quotation Marks: Punctuating Dialogue
- Semicolon: How to Use Semicolons
- Semicolon: Return of the Semicolon
- Titles: How to Punctuate
SAT Prep:
- 100 Words Every H.S. Graduate Should Know
- Avoid Weasel Words
- How To Argue Like a Champ
- Illustrating
- SAT Essay Writing 1: 7 Basic Tips
- SAT Essay Writing 2: Time Management
- SAT Essay Writing 3: The Thesis
- SAT Essay Writing 4: Taking a Strong Position
- SAT Essay Writing 5: Supporting Your Position
- SAT Essay Writing 6: Your Introduction
- SAT Essay Writing 7: Transitions
- SAT Essay Writing 8: Your Conclusion
Spelling
- “Breath” or “Breathe”?
- Homophones: A
- Homophones: B
- Homophones: C
- Homophones: D
- Homophones: E
- Homophones: F
- Homophones: G
- Homophones: H
- Homophones: I and J
- Homophones: K and L
- Homophones: M
- Homophones: N and O
- Homophones: P1
- Homophones: P2
- Homophones: Q and R1
- “Loose” or “Lose”?
Word Choice/Diction
- 100 Most Used Words in English
- 100 Ways to Say “Said“
- 200 Ways to Say “Went”
- 100 Words Every High School Grad Should Know
- 100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
- Affect or Effect? (video)
- Alternate or Alternative?
- Auld Lang Syne
- Avoid Weasel Words
- “Censure” or “Censor”?
- “Complement” or “Compliment”?
- Couth
- “Creeped” or “Crept”?
- Denotation and Connotation
- “Decimate”
- “Disenfranchised” or “Disillusioned”
- “Esprit de Escalier”
- “Fart”
- “Funner” or “Funnest”?
- “Hanged” or “Hung”?
- “Hoity-Toity” or “Hoi Polloi”?
- “Imply” or “Infer”
- “Leaped” or “Leapt”?
- “Lie” or “Lay”?
- Misusing “Like”
- “Octopuses” or “Octopi”?
- Orphan Negatives
- Portmanteau Words
- “Rise” or “Raise”?
- Sequester
- Shakespeare’s Best Word
- Ten Often Confused Words
- There, Their, or They’re?
- Thesaurus: How to Use
- Till, ‘Til, or Until?
- To, Too, or Two?
- Tragedy/Travesty
- Wake, Waken,or Awaken?
- Whose or Who’s”
Writing Prompts
- Descriptive: Alien Description
- Descriptive: A Busy Place
- Descriptive: A Close Observation
- Descriptive: Deserted Island
- Descriptive: A Face in the Crowd
- Descriptive: Guess Which Zoo Animal?
- Descriptive: No Adjectives or Adverbs
- Descriptive: Something Out of Place
- Expository: Cartoon Eulogy
- Expository: An Extended Analogy
- Expository: Hometown Travel Guide
- Expository: Letters of Complaint or Commendation
- Expository: A Memorable Conversation
- Expository: Process Paper/How-to
- Expository: Tabloid Reporting
- Narrative: Best Excuse Note Ever
- Narrative: Half a Mystery
- Narrative: An Original Parable
- Narrative: Random Short Story
- Narrative: Rescue Story
- Narrative: Triumph or Defeat
- Narrative: Two Versions of Summer Adventure
- Narrative: Unlikely Friends
- Narrative: What I Didn’t Do Over Summer Vacation
- Personal Narrative: My Blankest Moment
- Personal Narrative: The Soundtrack of My Life
- Persuasive: Best Unusual Pet
- Persuasive: Parent or Student of the Year
- Self-reflection Writing Prompts
Writing Style
- 6 Little Things to Improve Your Writing
- Active and Passive Voice Explained
- Audience and Purpose
- Avoid Puffery
- Caring: Write What You Care About
- Characters: 5 Tips for Creating Memorable Characters
- Clarity
- Clarity, Conciseness, and Coherence
- Comparison: Compare Equal Things
- Description: Details Should Matter
- Description: Specific Details
- Dialogue Tags
- Dialogue Tags: Alternatives to “Said”
- Figures of Speech: Overview for Writers
- Formula Writing
- Garden Path Sentences
- How to Argue Like a Champ
- How To Develop Style
- How To Hook Your Reader
- Illustrating
- Individualized Instruction
- In Medias Res
- Introductions: Just Tell Them
- Introductions: No Dictionary Definitions
- Parallelism
- Plot
- Point of View
- Precision: Saying What You Mean
- Pronoun Errors to Avoid
- The Rule of Three
- Saving the Best for Last
- Self-Consciousness “In My Opinion”
- Six Tips to Improve Student Writing
- Showing and Telling
- Showing and Telling: Sleepless in Seattle
- Structure and Organization
- Transition: Conjunctive Adverbs
- Unity
- Verbs Are Better than Nouns
- Wordiness: Tips for Avoiding
- Writing Modes: The Four Purposes
