How to punctuate (and differentiate between) nonrestrictive and restrictive clauses

Posted on 06/24/2020 at 04:27 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

If you’ve been putting commas in wherever you’d take a pause while speaking, we have some bad news for you:...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Jane Friedman, Language

Strengthen your book's draft by discarding unnecessary words

Posted on 06/22/2020 at 11:23 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

You already know that every word counts in your novel, especially in the first sentence or paragraph. Carla D. Bass...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: C.S. Lakin / Live Write Thrive, Language, Writing advice

Merriam-Webster updates definition of racism in online dictionary

Posted on 06/11/2020 at 08:51 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

2020 has been a memorable year for the human species, and it’s a good thing our dictionaries have virtual options...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Diversity, Language

The actual roots of "social distancing"

Posted on 05/31/2020 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

When, where, and why did the phrase “social distancing” first appear? If your guess was this past spring over the...

Tagged As: coronavirus / COVID-19, Language, The Guardian

Developmental editor: Make sure your metaphors actually work

Posted on 05/27/2020 at 03:42 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Developmental editor Jessi Rita Hoffman freely admits that she herself was guilty of the most common issue she sees in...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Language, Writing advice

Oxford English Dictionary makes early update with coronavirus words

Posted on 04/15/2020 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

View post titled Oxford English Dictionary makes early update with coronavirus words

One more sign of the times: the Oxford English Dictionary is being updated, ahead of schedule, to reflect new words...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: coronavirus / COVID-19, Language

How to properly format dialogue

Posted on 03/25/2020 at 08:42 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Good news: the Kindlepreneur has a guide to formatting dialogue to share. Better news: its author admits there’s no need...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Dave Chesson (the Kindlepreneur), Language

The Writer's Digest guide to proper semicolon use

Posted on 03/11/2020 at 10:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

An easy way to avoid language missteps is to just not use the word or punctuation mark in question, if...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Language, Writer's Digest

Open letter: Oxford Dictionary should remove sexist words from definition of "woman"

Posted on 03/03/2020 at 03:30 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Oxford University Press has received an open letter, signed by a number of academics and equality advocates, asking for revisions...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Language, The Guardian

Should you capitalize dog breeds?

Posted on 02/20/2020 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Today is National Love Your Pet Day, so it makes perfect sense that we’d share a dog-related editing tip. Grammar...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Grammar Girl, Language