Never Build a House with Tape Instead of Nails (Or, "Never Use Commas Where Periods Should Go")

For a splendid lesson in commas vs. periods, check out Elements of Style page 7 (chapter 1, sectn 6: "Do not break sentences in two.")

...and when commas and periods just won't do, stay tuned for a post on the mighty semi-colon.

Do you ever break these rules on purpose in the interest of style? Do tell!

How to use Active Voice Effectively (i.e. "Show, Don't Tell")

Now that we've determined it's almost always better to pass on passive voice, let's talk about how to grab your reader with active voice.

Here's the key:
1) Active voice centers around verbs.

2) Choose verbs that paint a picture, so that you don't HAVE to paint a picture with added words before or after the verb. Remember, verbs were meant to do the heavy lifting, modifiers/descriptors were not.

3) Voila! You have crafted a "showing" sentence. Anyone else ever have trouble understanding "show vs. tell"? I had a long journey to that point. It all boils down to this:

Don't TELL that Johnny was bored:
Johnny was so bored that he fell asleep. <---- Verb= "was." Not very action-packed. Can't tell much from it.

SHOW that Johnny was bored:
Johnny's mind wandered. His head nodded until he finally dropped it to the desk in slumber. <--Verbs= wandered, nodded, dropped. Actions that show boredom without even having to say the word "boredom."

See that?

He read the book.

He devoured the book.

He trudged through the book.

Same (or nearly the same) number of words, but by just swapping out one or two bland verbs for more precise verbs, the entire meaning changes. A picture is painted. You...have...SHOWN!

What was your journey towards undersanding "showing vs. telling" in your writing? Share your insight, by all means!

Pass on Passive

When I was growing up, we had a charming tiny black-and-white t.v. in one room of the house, and a larger color t.v. in another room. If we found a show we liked on the black-and-white, we'd flock into the living room to see if we could turn it on in color.

Why is that? 

Probably the same reason that active voice grabs readers more than passive voice:


The color made it more vivid, more interesting, more captivating.
In the same way, active voice in writing brings a reader into the action, rather than asking them to observe the action from a safe distance.

See here:

With a little order-switching and strategic word choice, the same exact message goes from bland information to persuasive punch.

Try it! Pass on passive, and watch the action unfold.
...and to balance the issue, here's a question for discussion:

When might you use passive voice effectively?

Exclamations Cry "Wolf!"

The Spice of Writing...

My Grandma used to tell me that spices could make or break a dish. True! But don't be fooled-- over-spicing can be just as fatal as under-spicing.

Same with writing...

Lesson: "More isn't always better... sometimes it's just more." (Character of Sabrina Fairchild). 

How do you hone your writing to find the "just right" amount of descriptors?

(Basic) Point of View in 3 Simple Steps:

See? No problem. ...Now if only I could stop that upward-slant-writing...

Nah. Let's not get overly ambitious.

Where DOES That Apostrophe Go?

Simple: just make the apostrophe point at who the item belongs to:

This works about 99% of the time. Check out Elements of Style  (Strunk and White) Section I, part 1, page 1 for a full explanation, including the exception to the rule:  “ancient proper names”.