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

How and when to use foreign language in your novel

Posted on 02/19/2020 at 10:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Congrats to Fussy author Julie Tetel Andresen for landing a guest post on The Creative Penn! In it, she explains...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Joanna Penn, Language, Writing advice

Interested in the difference between "disinterested" and "uninterested"

Posted on 02/11/2020 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Confession: We’ve at least once rephrased a social media post, out of fear we’d mix up “uninterested” and “disinterested.” Yes,...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Grammar Girl, Language

Author: Singular "they" isn't going away anytime soon

Posted on 02/06/2020 at 02:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Dennis Baron has bad news for some of you out there: singular “they” is here to stay. Baron, author of...

Categories: Author Interview

Tagged As: Author interview, Language, Nonfiction, NPR

On making "email" plural

Posted on 02/04/2020 at 10:48 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Robert Lee Brewer concedes he’s likely overthinking the question of how to make “email” plural. However, if you’re among him...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Language, Writer's Digest

An honest question: Could you care less?

Posted on 01/30/2020 at 02:30 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

It strikes us as funny that there’s such strong opinion over a phrase used to indicate a lack of interest....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Grammar Girl, Language

Author Philip Pullman: Brexit coin is missing a comma

Posted on 01/29/2020 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Brexit has inspired many a debate in the years since it was proposed. This one, while less significant in the...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Just for fun, Language, The Guardian